philosophical behaviourism

alternative philosophical behaviorism

1. UKuncountableSynonym of behaviorism.

   Psychological behaviourism, as we have seen, is a methodological view — a doctrine concerning the way in which one should go about doing psychology. Philosophical behaviourism, in contrast, is an analytic view — a substantive theory of what mental states are.

   2007, Matt Carter, Minds and Computers, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, page 23

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   Since philosophy became, for many of its practitioners, a study of everyday language, philosophical behaviourism has usually taken the form of analytical behaviourism à la Mace; though it is often presented in jargon like ‘discovering the logic of mental-conduct concepts’. This is a way of saying ‘describing the uses of the words with which we describe a person’s mind’.

   1970, Knowledge and Necessity (Royal Institute of Philosophy Lectures; 3), London; Glascow: Macmillan; St Martin's Press, →LCCN, page 124

   Thus we arrive at analytical or philosophical behaviourism: just as fragility is the disposition to break on dropping […] so desire for beer is the disposition to behave in what we believe is a beer-getting manner, and this is a reflection of our very concept of desire for beer.

   1997, David Braddon-Mitchell, Frank Jackson, Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, Blackwell Publishers, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 31

   Synonyms: analytic behaviorism, analytic behaviourism, analytical behaviorism, analytical behaviourism, behaviorism, behaviourism, logical behaviourism, philosophical behaviorism