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Implications of Determinism

Personal Responsibility and the Value of Science

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Book cover Behavior Theory and Philosophy

Abstract

Determinism is the view that all natural phenomena are products of interrelated antecedent processes. It is a guiding assumption of scientific inquiry and there is no controversy in asserting that behaviorists subscribe to determinism in the same way as other scientists. Because human action takes place in the same physical universe as all other phenomena, behaviorists have no objection to determinism, and, for the behaviorist, determinism does nothing to undermine the richness, individuality, and complexity of the human experience. There are implications of determinism and of the use of the word determined, however, that need to be carefully considered and addressed.

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© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Chiesa, M. (2003). Implications of Determinism. In: Lattal, K.A., Chase, P.N. (eds) Behavior Theory and Philosophy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4590-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4590-0_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3405-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4590-0

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