Context of Construction of the Idea of Free Will on the Basis of the Psychobiographies of Skinner, Fromm and Rogers
Abstract
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article was to analyze the development of the concept of (free) will in works of Burrhus F. Skinner, Erich S. Fromm and Carl R. Rogers – three researchers who restored the consideration of will in both American and world psychology in the 20th century.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: A research shows possible factors influencing the development of ideas of will, determinism and indeterminism, as well as their relationship with the perception of man (a machine subjected to environmental control versus a living being making a conscious choice). In the analysis the authors use Theoretical Research Tool. It was based on the context of construction method, created by Kurt Danziger (1990), a representative of the New History of Psychology.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The perspective of the New History of Psychology, being an extension of Runyan’s (1992) psychobiographical method including critical psychology, made it possible to get acquainted with the concepts of Skinner, Fromm and Rogers – taking their biographies into account. The literature was subjected to an in-depth analysis, authors paid attention to the relationship between the biographies and ideas/concepts of mentioned psychologists.
RESEARCH RESULTS: The research proved that the development of the concept of will and understanding of man in the theories of Skinner, Fromm and Rogers could have been influenced by private events in their lives, such as the hermetic style of upbringing in the family home, current political situation, change of environment or traumatic experiences.
CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Attention was drawn to the fact that psychological theories do not arise in an axiological or biographical void, sometimes these are constructed with significant experiences of a given researcher taken into account.
References
Buzan, D. (2004, 12 marca). I was not a lab rat. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/mar/12/highereducation.uk
Danziger, K. (1990). Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research. Cambridge University Press.
Danziger, K. (1997). Naming the mind: How psychology found its language. SAGE Publications.
Danziger, K. (2010, 12 października). Problematic encounter: Talks on psychology and history. Kurt Danziger. www.kurtdanziger.com/Problematic Encounter3.pdf
Fromm, E. (1970). Ucieczka od wolności (O. i A. Ziemilscy, tłum.). Czytelnik.
Fromm, E. (1994). O sztuce miłości (A. Bogdański, tłum.). Sagittarius.
Fromm, E. (1996). Zdrowe społeczeństwo (A. Tanalska-Dulęba, tłum.). Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Fromm, E. (1997). O sztuce istnienia (R. Saciuk, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Fromm, E. (1998). Anatomia ludzkiej destrukcyjności (J. Karłowski, tłum.). Dom Wydawniczy Rebis.
Fromm, E. (2000a). Mieć czy być? (J. Karłowski, tłum.). Dom Wydawniczy Rebis.
Fromm, E. (2000b). Rewolucja nadziei. Ku uczłowieczonej technologii (H. Adamska, tłum.). Dom Wydawniczy Rebis.
Fromm, E. (2005). Niech się stanie człowiek. Z psychologii etyki (R. Saciuk, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Fromm, E. (2017). Psychoanaliza a religia (J. Karłowski, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Vis-á-vis Etiuda.
Fromm, E. (2018). Miłość, płeć i matriarchat (B. Radomska i G. Sowinski, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Vis-á-vis Etiuda.
Fromm, E. (2021). Patologia normalności. Przyczynek do nauki o człowieku (S. Baranowski i R. Palusiński, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Vis-á-vis Etiuda.
Funk, R. (1999). Erich Fromm (R. Różanowski, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie.
Kirschenbaum, H. i Henderson, V.L. (red.). (1989). Carl Rogers. Dialogues. Constable.
Lavazza, A. (2016). Free will and neuroscience: From explaining freedom away to new ways of operationalizing and measuring it. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10(262). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00262
Pankalla, A. i Wiatrowska, A. (2021). Kazus (anty)duchowości behawiorysty radykalnego B.F. Skinnera – perspektywa psychobiograficzna. Nauki o Wychowaniu. Studia Interdyscyplinarne, 12(1), 179-198. https://doi.org/10.18778/2450-4491.12.12
Pankiewicz, P., Majkowicz, M. i Burkiewicz, A. (2005). Zarys pojęcia „woli” i jego obecny status w koncepcjach psychologicznych. Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio D, 60(384), 214-219.
Rogers, C. (1969). Freedom to learn. Bell & Howell Company.
Rogers, C. (2002a). O stawaniu się osobą. Poglądy terapeuty na psychoterapię (M. Karpiński, tłum.). Dom Wydawniczy Rebis.
Rogers, C. (2002b). Sposób bycia (M. Karpiński, tłum.). Dom Wydawniczy Rebis.
Rogers, C. (2016). Teoria terapii, osobowości i relacji interpersonalnych. Rozwinięta w oparciu o podejście skoncentrowane na kliencie (M. Król, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Zielone Drzewo, Instytut Psychologii Zdrowia PTP.
Runyan, W.M. (1992). Historie życia a psychobiografia. Badania teorii i metody (J. Kasprzewski, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Skinner, B.F. (1948). Walden two. Hackett Publishing Company.
Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science and human behavior. Free Press.
Skinner, B.F. (1955). Freedom and the control of men. W: B.F. Skinner, Cumulative record. Definitive edition (s. 1210-1250). Acton. Copley Publishing Group.
Skinner, B.F. (1977). Particulars of my life. Part one of an autobiography. Knopf.
Skinner, B.F. (1978). Poza wolnością i godnością (W. Szelenberger, tłum.). Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Skinner, B.F. (1979). The shaping of a behaviorist. Part two of an autobiography. Knopf.
Skinner, B.F. (1987). A matter of consequences. Part three of an autobiography. Knopf.
Skinner, B.F. (1990). Can psychology be a science of mind? American Psychologist, 45(11), 1206-1210. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.45.11.1206
Skinner, B.F. (1995). Zachowanie się organizmów (K. Dudziak, tłum.). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Skinner, B.F. (2013). Behawioryzm (P. Skawiński, tłum.). Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
Thorne, B. (2006). Carl Rogers. Biografia. (E. Wojtych, tłum.). Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
Trzópek, J. (2009). Problem woli a współczesna psychologia. Przegląd Filozoficzny – Nowa Seria, 18(1), 125-143. https://pf.uw.edu.pl/images/NUMERY_PDF/069/PF_2009-R18_1_08_Trzopek-J_Problem.pdf
Zamiara, K. (1998). Między filozofią nauki a historią nauki. Współczesne kontrowersje. Przegląd Filozoficzny – Nowa Seria, 26(2), 79-85. https://philpapers.org/rec/ZAMMFN
Copyright (c) 2023 HORIZONS OF EDUCATION
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND licence that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are asked to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). We advise to use any of the following reserach society portals:
