some public perspectives on the problem of privacy m. jackson marr georgia tech atlanta, ga. usa...
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SOME PUBLIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE PROBLEM OF PRIVACY
M. JACKSON MARRGEORGIA TECH
ATLANTA, GA. USA30332-0170
γνῶθι σεαυτόν “know thyself”6th Century BCE inscription at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi
But what can this mean? If it means anything, how does one obtain such
“knowledge” and of what does it consist?
THREE SCHOLARLY COMMUNITIES
1.SKINNERIAN RADICAL BEHAVIORISTS
2. PHILOSOPHICAL BEHAVIORISTS
3. THE DISSENTING BEHAVIORISTS
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH PRIVATE EVENTS?
• Assumption: The private world is not made of different “stuff.” Covert behavior is still behavior.
• But there are two problems for a scientific account: (1) private events not directly observable by others, and (2) how does the verbal community establish tacting of such events?
THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR WAYS
“My tooth hurts!”
1. Common public accompaniment2. A collateral response3. A metaphorical extension4. A shift in magnitude of the response
VERBAL BEHAVIOR and PRIVATE EVENTS
THE “PROBLEM” OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND A SELF-DESCRIPTIVE REPERTOIRE.
“…IT IS THE COMMUNITY THAT TEACHES THE INDIVIDUAL TO ‘KNOW HIMSELF’”
B.F. Skinner, S&HB, p. 261.
WHY DOES BEHAVIOR BECOME COVERT?
1. Self-description useful to the listener.
2. Controlling variables may be weak.
3. Magnitude may decrease if still effective for the speaker (as listener).
4. Overt verbal behavior may be punished.
5. Malingering.
Some Relevant Philosophical References on Privacy
Brie Gertler (2011). Self-Knowledge. NY: Routledge.
Norman Malcolm (1965). Knowledge and Certainty. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Norman Malcolm (1977). Thought and Knowledge. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
Norman Malcolm (1977). Memory and Mind. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (2009). Philosophical Investigations (4th ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
“THE CONFUSION AND BARRENESS OF PSYCHOLOGY IS NOT TO BE EXPLAINED BY CALLING IT A ‘YOUNG SCIENCE’; ITS STATE IS NOT COMPARABLE WITH THAT OF PHYSICS, FORINSTANCE, AT ITS BEGINNINGS…FOR IN PSYCHOLOGY THERE ARE EXPERIMENTAL METHODS AND CONCEPTUAL CONFUSION.
THE EXISTENCE OF THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD MAKES US THINK WE HAVE THE MEANS OF SOLVING THE PROBLEMS THAT TROUBLE US; THOUGH PROBLEM AND METHOD PASS ONE ANOTHER BY.”
WITTGENSTEIN, PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Covert Behavior and Private Events in Radical Behaviorism.
Behavior and Philosophy, 2009, 37, 1-117.
www.behavior.org
“…any explanation of an observed fact which appeals to events taking place somewhere else, at some other level of observation, described in different terms, and measured, if at all, in different dimensions.”
SKINNER’S “HETEROGENEOUS” REDUCTION
GENERAL FUND OF BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION
• 1. Molecular Processes (biochemical, biophysical)
• 2. Cellular functions
• 3. Tissue/organ functions
• 4. Morphogenic-developmental
• 5. Behavioral-environmental
• 6. Species adaptation-evolution