Radical Behaviorism and the Concept of Agency

Abstract

This chapter addresses one aspect of dualism: the concept of an inner self and its conflict with a natural science of behavior. A problem deeper than the mysteriousness of how an inner self could cause concrete behavior is the assumption that actions are done at all—the problem of agency. No agency means no self, at least in the traditional sense. Even if it might be honest to admit that radical behaviorism omits self, to do so might be impolitic. The compatibility between radical behaviorism and the New Age stems from the notion of interconnectedness, which, along with many of its implications, lies at the center of both schools of thought. Radical behaviorism finds itself in the same boat with Eastern mysticism and its Western adaptation, the New Age. Behaviorism and the New Age both encounter resistance, but for different reasons: the one because it seems too harsh; the other because it seems too vague.

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