This blog post has two parts. The first part, titled The Behaviorist Programme, argues that traditional psychological models invoking unobservable mental states—such as intentions, feelings, or motives—are inherently speculative and cannot be conclusively verified. Instead, it advocates for a behaviorist approach that defines emotions and other mental phenomena solely in terms of observable behaviors. By operationalizing terms like “anger” into measurable actions (e.g., yelling, clenching fists, or aggressive gestures), behaviorism eschews untestable internal attributions in favor of empirical data. Although everyday language uses mentalistic labels for convenience, this part contends that a scientifically rigorous study of behavior should rely strictly on what can be seen and measured, thereby eliminating the ambiguity created by multiple plausible psychological explanations.
The second part, titled Stoic Behaviorism, extends this empirical perspective into the realm of ethical theory by arguing that moral judgments should also be grounded in observable conduct rather than speculative internal states. It highlights the difficulty of attributing moral actions to hidden motives because actions deemed “right” might equally be explained by a rational desire to act morally or by unchecked emotions. However, when actions are morally deficient, the associated behaviors—such as a harsh tone or rash departure—can clearly be ascribed to destructive passions. This leads to an ethical stance reminiscent of Stoic thought, which views passions as inherently problematic. In short, the blog post concludes that while normative ethics ideally promotes rational conduct, a strict behaviorist methodology confirms that only behaviors linked to moral error can unambiguously be interpreted as being driven by emotion.
For my previous defense of behaviorism, see here. I already had much the same Stoic views even before I had developed any clearly behaviorist views, as seen here.
