Abstract
Ernst Mach is most closely associated with a positivism that demanded a language of close contact with reality. Mach linked this view with the tradition of the quest for an ideal language in which meaning is a property of a word. Logical positivism and the S-R psychology of the early B. F. Skinner also participated in this ideal-language positivism. In addition, Mach showed an affinity with another tradition—a pragmatic-selectionist tradition—although that tradition and Mach’s similarities with it were not as well developed. Mach showed no difficulty in jointly maintaining both of these traditions although they have been regarded as deeply incompatible. When the later Skinner adopted a pragmatic selectionism for his later views on verbal behavior, he rejected his earlier views that were aligned with S-R psychology as well as with logical positivism and its sympathizers. Nevertheless, some statements consistent with ‘‘meaning is a property of a word’’ remained for some time in Skinner’s writing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarsleff, H. (1967). The study of language in England 1780–1860. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ayer, A. J. (Ed.). (1959). Logical positivism. New York: The Free Press.
Ayer, A. J. (1982). Philosophy in the twentieth century. New York: Random House.
Bacon, F. (1960). The new organon and related writings (F. H. Anderson, Ed.). New York: Macmillan. (Original work published 1620)
Barclay, J. (1826). A sequel to the diversions of Purley: An essay on English verbs, with remarks on Mr. Tooke’s work, and on some terms employed to denote soul or spirit. London: Smith, Elder.
Berg, D. L. (1993). A guide to the Oxford English dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, J. T. (1972). Ernst Mach: His work, life, and influence. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Blanshard, B., & Skinner, B. F. (1966–1967). The problem of consciousness—A debate. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 27. 317–337.
Carnap, R. (1934). The unity of science (M. Black, Trans.). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
Carnap, R. (1950). Testability and meaning. New Haven, CT: Graduate Philosophy Club, Yale University. (Original work published 1936–1937)
Carnap, R. (1959). The elimination of metaphysics through logical analysis of language (A. Pap, Trans.). In A. J. Ayer (Ed.), Logical positivism (pp. 60–81). New York: The Free Press. (Original work published 1932)
Catania, A. C. (1973). The concept of the operant in the analysis of behavior. Behaviorism, 1. 103–116.
Comte, A. (1855). Positive philosophy of Auguste Comte (H. Martineau, Trans.). New York: Blanchard.
Crapanzano, V. (2000). Serving the word: Literalism in America from the pulpit to the bench. New York: The New Press.
Darwin, C. (1974). In H. E. Gruber & P. H. Barrett (Eds.), Darwin on man. New York: Dutton.
Davies, T. (1987). The ark in flames: Science, language and education in seventeenth-century England. In A. E. Benjamin, G. N. Cantor, & J. R. R. Cristie (Eds.), The figural and the literal: Problems of language in the history of science and philosophy, 1630–1800 (pp. 83–102). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Day, W., Jr. (1980). The historical antecedents of contemporary behaviorism. In R. W. Rieber & K. Salzinger (Eds.), Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives (pp. 203–262). New York: Academic Press.
Eco, U. (1995). The search for the perfect language (J. Fentress, Trans.). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Empson, W. (1966). Seven types of ambiguity (3rd ed.). New York: New Directions. (Original work published 1930)
Giere, R. N. (1999). Science without laws. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Grave, S. A. (1960). The Scottish philosophy of common sense. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Hanson, N. R. (1955). Causal chains. Mind, 64. 289–311.
Harris, R., & Taylor, T. J. (1989). Landmarks in linguistic thought. London: Routledge.
Herschel, J. F. W. (1987). A preliminary discourse on the study of natural philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1830)
Hobbes, T. (1985). Leviathan. London: Penguin. (Original work published 1651)
Hull, D. L. (1989). The metaphysics of evolution. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Joos, M. (1967). The five clocks. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Knowlson, J. (1975). Universal language schemes in England and France 1600–1800. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Lakatos, I. (1978). Mathematics, science and epistemology: Philosophical papers (Vol. 2). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Landau, S. I. (2001). Dictionaries: The art and craft of lexicography (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lenzer, G. (Ed.). (1998). Auguste Comte and positivism: The essential writings. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Locke, J. (1975). An essay concerning human understanding (P. H. Nidditch, Ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1667)
Mach, E. (1896). On the part played by accident in invention and discovery. The Monist, 6. 161–175.
Mach, E. (1959). The analysis of sensations (C. M. Williams, Trans.). New York: Dover.
Mach, E. (1960). The science of mechanics. LaSalle, IL: Open Court. (Original work published 1883)
Mach, E. (1976). Knowledge and error: Sketches on the psychology of enquiry. Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel. (Original work published 1905)
Mach, E. (1986). On the economical nature of physical inquiry. In his Popular scientific lectures (T. J. McCormack, Trans., pp. 186–213). LaSalle, IL: Open Court. (Original lecture delivered 1882)
Mach, E. (1986). On transformation and adaptation in scientific thought. In his Popular scientific lectures (T. J. McCormack, Trans., pp. 259–281). LaSalle, IL: Open Court. (Original lecture delivered 1883)
Mach, E. (1986). On instruction in the classics and the sciences. In his Popular scientific lectures (T. J. McCormack, Trans., pp. 338–374). LaSalle, IL: Open Court. (Original lecture delivered 1886)
Mayr, E. (1988). Toward a new philosophy of biology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Menger, K. (1960). Introduction. E. Mach, The science of mechanics (pp. v–xxi). LaSalle, IL: Open Court.
Midgley, M. (1978). Beast and man: The roots of human nature. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Mill, J. S. (1871). The positive philosophy of Auguste Comte. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
Moxley, R. A. (2001a). The modern/postmodern context of Skinner’s selectionist turn in 1945. Behavior and Philosophy, 29. 121–153.
Moxley, R. A. (2001b). Sources of Skinner’s pragmatic selectionism in 1945. The Behavior Analyst, 24. 201–212.
Moxley, R. A. (2002). Some more similarities between Peirce and Skinner. The Behavior Analyst, 25. 201–214.
Moxley, R. A. (2003). Some early similarities and later differences between Bertrand Russell and B. F. Skinner. The Behavior Analyst, 26. 111–130.
Mungello, D. E. (1998). European philosophical responses to non-European cultures. In D. Garber & M. Ayers (Eds.), The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century philosophy (Vol. 1, pp. 87–100). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Neurath, O. (1959). Sociology and physicalism. In A. J. Ayer (Ed.), Logical positivism (pp. 282–317). New York: The Free Press. (Original work published 1931–1932)
Neurath, O. (1959). Protocol sentences. In A. J. Ayer (Ed.), Logical positivism (pp. 199–208). New York: The Free Press. (Original work published 1932–1933)
Neurath, O. (1983). Physicalism: The philosophy of the Viennese circle. In R. Cohen & M. Neurath (Eds.), Otto Neurath: Philosophical papers 1913–1946 (pp. 48–51). Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel. (Original work published 1931)
Neurath, O. (1983). Individual sciences, unified science, pseudorationalism. In R. S. Cohen & M. Neurath (Eds.), Otto Neurath: Philosophical papers 1913–1946 (pp. 132–138). Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel. (Original work published 1936)
Neurath, O. (1983). Universal jargon and terminology. In R. S. Cohen & M. Neurath (Eds.), Otto Neurath: Philosophical papers 1913–1946 (pp. 213–229). Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel. (Original work published 1941)
Nunberg, G. (2001). The way we talk now. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Nunberg, G. (2004). Going nucular: Language, politics, and culture in confrontational times. New York: Public Affairs.
Ogden, C. K., & Richards, I. A. (1989). The meaning of meaning. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. (Original work published 1923)
Parker, G., & Smith, L. M. (Eds.). (1978). The general crisis of the seventeenth century. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Peirce, C. S. (1931–1958). Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. C. Hartshorne, P. Weiss, & A. Burks (Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Peirce, C. S. (1975). Mach’s science of mechanics. In K. L. Ketner & J. E. Cook (Eds.), Charles Sanders Peirce: Contributions to the nation part one: 1869–1893 (pp. 187–191). Graduate Studies No. 10. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University. (Original work published 1893)
Peirce, C. S. (1992). How to make our ideas clear. In N. Houser & C. Kloesel (Eds.), The essential Peirce: Selected philosophical writings: Volume 1 (1867–1893) (pp. 124–141). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (Original work published 1878)
Peirce, C. S. (1992). Reasoning and the logic of things. (K. L. Ketner, Ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original lecture delivered 1898)
Perry, R. B. (1936). The thought and character of William James. Boston: Little, Brown.
Putnam, H. (1994). The question of realism. In J. Conant (Ed.), Words and life: Hilary Putnam (pp. 295–312). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Quine, W. V. (1987). Quiddities: An intermittently philosophical dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Reich, G. (1994). Planning science: Otto Neurath and the International Encyclopedia of Unified Science. British Journal of the History of Science, 27. 153–175.
Rider, R. E. (1990). Measure of ideas, rule of language: Mathematics and language in the 18th century. In J. L. Frängsmyr, J. L. Heilbron, & R. E. Rider (Eds.), The quantifying spirit in the 18th century (pp. 113–140). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Robinson, R. (1950). Definition. London: Oxford University Press.
Rorty, R. (1992). Twenty-five years after. In R. Rorty (Ed.), The linguistic turn: Essays in philosophical method (pp. 371–374). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rossi, P. (2000). Logic and the art of memory: The quest for a universal language (S. Clucas, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Russell, B. (1926). Review of The Meaning of Meaning. Dial, 81. 114–121.
Russell, B. (1981). Introduction. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by L. Wittgenstein (C. K. Ogden, Trans., pp. 7–23). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1922)
Schiappa, E. (1993). Arguing about definitions. Argumentation, 7. 403–417.
Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (1989). The Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Skinner, B. F. (1931). The concept of the reflex in the description of behavior. Journal of General Psychology, 5. 427–457.
Skinner, B. F. (1932). Drive and reflex strength. Journal of General Psychology, 6. 22–37.
Skinner, B. F. (1933). The rate of establishment of a discrimination. Journal of General Psychology, 9. 302–349.
Skinner, B. F. (1935). The generic nature of the concepts of stimulus and response. Journal of General Psychology, 12. 40–65.
Skinner, B. F. (1936). A failure to obtain “disinhibition.” Journal of General Psychology, 14. 127–135.
Skinner, B. F. (1940a). The nature of the operant reserve. Psychological Bulletin, 37. 423.
Skinner, B. F. (1940b). Skinner to Keller, February 25, 1940, Skinner-Keller Correspondence, Accession #14328, Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA.
Skinner, B. F. (1945). The operational analysis of psychological terms. The Psychological Review, 52. 270–277, 291–294.
Skinner, B. F. (1947). Experimental psychology. In W. Dennis, B. F. Skinner, R. R. Sears, E. L. Kelly, C. Rogers, J. C. Flanagan, C. T. Morgan, & R. Likert (Eds.), Current trends in psychology (pp. 16–49). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: Macmillan.
Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Skinner, B. F. (1966). The behavior of organisms. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. (Original work published 1938)
Skinner, B. F. (1968). The science of human behavior. In Twenty-five years at RCA laboratories 1942–1967 (pp. 92–102). Princeton, NJ: RCA Laboratories.
Skinner, B. F. (1969). Operant behavior. In his Contingencies of reinforcement: A theoretical analysis (pp. 105–312). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. (Original work published 1963)
Skinner, B. F. (1971). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Knopf.
Skinner, B. F. (1973). Answers for my critics. In H. Wheeler (Ed.), Beyond the punitive society (pp. 256–266). San Francisco: Freeman.
Skinner, B. F. (1974). About behaviorism. New York: Knopf.
Skinner, B. F. (1978). Reflections on meaning and structure. In his Reflections on behaviorism and society (pp. 176–187). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. (Original work published 1973)
Skinner, B. F. (1979). Interview with B. F. Skinner (J. E. Morrow, Ed.). Behaviorists for Social Action, 2. 47–52.
Skinner, B. F. (1980a). The experimental analysis of operant behavior: A history. In R. W. Rieber & K. Salzinger (Eds.), Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives (pp. 191–203). New York: Academic Press.
Skinner, B. F. (1980b). Notebooks. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Skinner, B. F. (1982, January 8). The Times Literary Supplement. p. 32.
Skinner, B. F. (1984). The shaping of a behaviorist. Washington Square: New York University Press. (Original work published 1979)
Skinner, B. F. (1984). A matter of consequences. Washington Square: New York University Press. (Original work published 1983)
Skinner, B. F. (1987). Cognitive science and behaviorism. In his Upon further reflection (pp. 93–111). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. (Original work published 1985)
Skinner, B. F. (1987). Some thoughts about the future. In his Upon further reflection (pp. 193–206). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. (Original work published 1986)
Skinner, B. F. (1988). In A. C. Catania & S. Harnad (Eds.), The selection of behavior: The operant behaviorism of B. F. Skinner: Comments and consequences. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1984)
Skinner, B. F. (1989a). Whatever happened to psychology as the science of behavior? In his Recent issues in the analysis of behavior (pp. 59–71). Columbus, OH: Merrill. (Original work published 1987)
Skinner, B. F. (1989b). Laurence Smith’s behaviorism and logical positivism. In his Recent issues in the analysis of behavior (pp. 107–111). Columbus, OH: Merrill. (Original work published 1987)
Skinner, B. F. (1989). The listener. In his Recent issues in the analysis of behavior (pp. 35–47). Columbus, OH: Merrill. (Original work published 1988)
Skinner, B. F. (1989). The initiating self. In his Recent issues in the analysis of behavior (pp. 27–33). Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Skinner, B. F. (1997). Appendix. In B. F. Skinner & M. E. Vaughan, Enjoy old age (pp. 155–157). New York: Norton. (Original work published 1983)
Slaughter, M. M. (1982). Universal languages and scientific taxonomy in the seventeenth century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sprat, T. (1958). The history of the Royal Society (J. I. Cope & H. W. Jones, Eds.). Saint Louis, MO: Washington University. (Original work published 1667)
Stewart, D. (1855). On the beautiful. In W. Hamilton (Ed.), The collected works: Dugald Stewart, ESQ., F.R.S.S.: Philosophical essays (3rd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 189–274). Edinburgh, UK: Thomas Constable. (Original work published 1810)
Stewart, D. (1994). On the tendency of some late philological speculations. In W. Hamilton (Ed.), The collected works: Dugald Stewart, ESQ., F.R.S.S.: Philosophical essays (3rd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 149–177). Bristol, UK: Thoemmes Press. (Original work published 1810)
Sutton, C. (1994). “Nullus in verba” and “nihil in verbis”: Public understanding of the role of language in science. British Journal for the History of Science, 27. 55–64.
Swift, J. (1967). Gulliver’s travels. London: Penguin. (Original work published 1726)
Tooke, J. H. (1857). The diversions of Purley. London: William Tegg.
Willinsky, J. (1994). Empire of words: The reign of the OED. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Wilson, D. J. (1995). Fertile ground: Pragmatism, science, and logical positivism. In R. Hollinger & D. Depew (Eds.), Pragmatism: From progressivism to postmodernism (pp. 121–141). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Winchester, S. (2003). The meaning of everything: The story of the Oxford English dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Wittgenstein, L. (1922). Tractatus logico-philosophicus (C. K. Ogden, Trans.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Wittgenstein, L. (1958). Philosophical investigations (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
Wright, L. (1976). Teleological explanations: An etiological analysis of goals and functions. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moxley, R.A. Ernst Mach and B. F. Skinner: Their similarities with two traditions for verbal behavior. BEHAV ANALYST 28, 29–48 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392102
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392102