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Walden Two: A Utopia in the Psychologist’s Mind(PDF)

《南京师大学报》(社会科学版)[ISSN:1006-6977/CN:61-1281/TN]

Issue:
2016年01期
Page:
98-
Research Field:
心理学理论与应用研究
Publishing date:

Info

Title:
Walden Two: A Utopia in the Psychologist’s Mind
Author(s):
GUO Ben-yu
Keywords:
Skinner Walden Two behaviorism social management Utopia
PACS:
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DOI:
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Abstract:
The famous American psychologist Burrhus Frederic Skinner, motivated by a variety of factors, wrote his world bestselling novel Walden Two especially in order to get himself out of the bewilderment of midlife psychological crisis. We can see in this modern classic the influence of traditional utopian literary ideas embodied in such great works of the same kind as Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Bacon’s New Atlantis, and Thomas More’ Utopia. By writing this novel, Skinner tried to use the behaviorist operant conditioning theory derived from various animal experiments to solve some problems of human social management. Throughout this book, the author took the visit to Walden Two as the main clue to unravel his philosophy of the design of an ideal society step by step and expressed views on some specific topics, such as clothing, entertainment, diet, work, education, family, medical treatment, good life, politics, religion, freedom, etc. The utopianism reflected in Walden Two has been tried and practiced by many people. But at the same time, it has also triggered a series of profound ideological debates.

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Last Update: 2016-02-02