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《A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior - N.Chomsky》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在行业资料-天天文库。
1、AReviewofB.F.Skinner'sVerbalBehaviorNoamChomskyInLeonA.JakobovitsandMurrayS.Miron(eds.),ReadingsinthePsychologyofLanguage,Prentice-Hall,1967,pp.142-143PrefaceRereadingthisreviewaftereightyears,IfindlittleofsubstancethatIwouldchangeifIweretowriteittoday.Iamnotawareofanytheoreticalorexperimentalwor
2、kthatchallengesitsconclusions;nor,sofarasIknow,hastherebeenanyattempttomeetthecriticismsthatareraisedinthereviewortoshowthattheyareerroneousorill-founded.IhadintendedthisreviewnotspecificallyasacriticismofSkinner'sspeculationsregardinglanguage,butratherasamoregeneralcritiqueofbehaviorist(Iwouldno
3、wprefertosay"empiricist")speculationastothenatureofhighermentalprocesses.MyreasonfordiscussingSkinner'sbookinsuchdetailwasthatitwasthemostcarefulandthoroughgoingpresentationofsuchspeculations,anevaluationthatIfeelisstillaccurate.Therefore,iftheconclusionsIattemptedtosubstantiateinthereviewarecorr
4、ect,asIbelievetheyare,thenSkinner'sworkcanberegardedas,ineffect,areductioadabsurdumofbehavioristassumptions.Mypersonalviewisthatitisadefinitemerit,notadefect,ofSkinner'sworkthatitcanbeusedforthispurpose,anditwasforthisreasonthatItriedtodealwithitfairlyexhaustively.Idonotseehowhisproposalscanbeimp
5、rovedupon,asidefromoccasionaldetailsandoversights,withintheframeworkofthegeneralassumptionsthatheaccepts.Idonot,inotherwords,seeanywayinwhichhisproposalscanbesubstantiallyimprovedwithinthegeneralframeworkofbehavioristorneobehaviorist,or,moregenerally,empiricistideasthathasdominatedmuchofmodernlin
6、guistics,psychology,andphilosophy.TheconclusionthatIhopedtoestablishinthereview,bydiscussingthesespeculationsintheirmostexplicitanddetailedform,wasthatthegeneralpointofviewwaslargelymythology,andthatitswidespreadacceptanceisnottheresultofempiricalsupport,persuasivereasoning,ortheabsenceofaplausib
7、lealternative.IfIwerewritingtodayonthesametopic,IwouldtrytomakeitmoreclearthanIdidthatIwasdiscussingSkinner'sproposalsasaparadigmexampleofafutiletendencyinmodernspeculationaboutlanguageandmind.Iwouldalsobesomewhatlessa
