On Thu, 19 Feb 2004, Jim Farmelant wrote:
> One person who was, perhaps surprisingly,
> not a Freud-basher was the great
> behavioral pychologist, B.F. Skinner.
> In a review of Marc Richelle's book, *B.F. Skinner:
> A Reappraisal*, (http://www.naturalism.org/reviews.htm#BFSkinner),
> I noted:
>
> "Richelle devotes a chapter to Freud in Skinner's writings.
> He notes that while Skinner was highly critical of Freud's
> mentalism, he had many kind things to say about Freud's work.
> Skinner admired Freud for being a determinist, for being an
> astute observer of human behavior, and for having discarded
> consciousness and introspection as tools for understanding
> mental processes.
Um, this leaves out the little detail that Skinner totally rejected the idea of the unconscious, which is the crucial core concept of Freud's theory. --It's a lot like saying "I like the idea of capitalism, except for the bit about private ownership of the means of production".
Miles