Wittgenstein and Logical Behaviorism

Some authors believe that Wittgenstein was a Logical Behaviorist, even a founder of Logical Behaviorism, whereas others think that he was a not a behaviorist, Logical or other. Nevertheless, there is wide–spread agreement that his statements on the subject of behaviorism lend themselves to divergent interpretations. We begin by tracing Wittgenstein's position to the historical period which witnessed the development of the behaviorism in psychology and Logical Positivism in philosophy in the first third of the 20th Century. In the subsequent sections we define what we mean by Logical Behaviorism and outline the arguments and considerations which support the view that Wittgenstein was not a behaviorist, and those which incline others to think that he was one. We do not settle the question definitively, but we do suggest that Wittgenstein was a behaviorist who was well aware of the difficulties of behaviorism. We conclude by offering a view which is in the spirit of behaviorism which Wittgenstein could not utterly relinquish, but which goes some distance toward meeting objections to it.

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Some authors believe that Wittgenstein was a Logical Behaviorist, even a founder of Logical Behaviorism, whereas others think that he was a not a behaviorist, Logical or other. Nevertheless, there is wide–spread agreement that his statements on the subject of behaviorism lend themselves to divergent interpretations. We begin by tracing Wittgenstein's position to the historical period which witnessed the development of the behaviorism in psychology and Logical Positivism in philosophy in the first third of the 20th Century. In the subsequent sections we define what we mean by Logical Behaviorism and outline the arguments and considerations which support the view that Wittgenstein was not a behaviorist, and those which incline others to think that he was one. We do not settle the question definitively, but we do suggest that Wittgenstein was a behaviorist who was well aware of the difficulties of behaviorism. We conclude by offering a view which is in the spirit of behaviorism which Wittgenstein could not utterly relinquish, but which goes some distance toward meeting objections to it.

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