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Measure of Man on Freedom, Human Values, Survival and the Modern Temper

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In the 1960s B. F. Skinner and the science of behaviorism were popular with some and controversial for others. Like Watson, Skinner plainly said that we are not free, that we have always been controlled by our environment. But the contingencies of reinforcement that originate in our environment are haphazard and produced uneven results that threaten the survival of mankind. Our increasing technical sophistication which produced nuclear weapons now threatens our survival because there has been no corresponding advance in the science of man. He openly advocated that we abandon all belief in the freedom and dignity of man in exchange for the scientific application of the techniques of control by experts in the technology of human behavior. Only then could there be revolutionary change in man.
The Measure of Man systematically destroys Skinner's principal arguments. Psychologists clearly understand a great deal about behavior. But behaviorism is becoming increasingly popular and dangerous as the problems of life are viewed as problems of mental illness, ignorance or inequalty. The Measure of Man deserves a place in the great books of the twentieth century as a most cogent refutation of the proposition that we are not free, and are not capable of original, creative design and action. Our lives are not determined by the conditions of our environment. A truly great book.