ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book presentsBurrhus Frederic Skinner's work. The argument, throughout the book, has been abundantly illustrated by quotations from Skinner's writings, which convey rigorous and subtle thought, often provocative, and, when it comes to social matters, straightforwardly generous. As a member of behaviourist movement, Skinner participated in the methodological austerity that made for later re-examination of issues which introspective psychology, at the turn of the century, had led into blind alleys. Commentaries on Skinner's conceptions have, as a rule, too narrowly confined him within the behaviourist constellation, with little attention to his singularities compared with other behaviourists, and complete neglect of hidden convergences with other traditions. Although in a sense Skinner followed his line with systematic obstinacy, he continued to scrutinise territories of knowledge that others were exploring at the same time, albeit from the different angle.
