Behaviorism treated freedom and ignorance as synonyms

Evidence

The logical consequences of the new viewpoint necessitated a reinterpretation of the higher-order human experiences that we call “freedom” and “will.” Meyer echoed Planck in positing that “freedom of action in the animal world signifies the same that is meant by accidents in the world of physics.” Such accidents are simply phenomena for which there are insufficient information and understanding. And so it goes with freedom. The liberal idea of freedom persists in an inverse relationship to the growth of scientific knowledge, especially in the field of psychological science. Knowledge and freedom are necessarily adversaries. As Meyer wrote, “The Other-One’s conduct is free, uncaused, only in the same sense in which the issue of a disease, the outcome of a war, the weather, the crops are free and uncaused; that is, in the sense of general human ignorance of the particular causes of the particular outcome.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1152

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the behaviorist construal of freedom: freedom is merely ignorance of causes, not a real property of action.
• SEED: Angle for an essay: ‘Knowledge and freedom are necessarily adversaries’ — how the surveillance-capitalism project operationalizes this exact behaviorist premise, reframing prediction as the abolition of free will.
• QUESTION: How much of this behaviorist ‘freedom as ignorance’ premise does Zuboff later refute vs. concede? Is her critique of surveillance capitalism ultimately a rejection of behaviorism’s epistemology?
• XREF: connects to: American public rejected behaviorism’s claims over individual freedom — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1022; Early behaviorists saw knowledge requiring the forfeit of freedom — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1159; Behaviorism holds that free will is just ignorance of behavioral determinants — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1164 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The physics view of behavior treats freedom as mere unexplained ignorance #corroborates (0.90) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1315
• Freedom is compatible with determinism when thought is part of the causal mix #contradicts (0.85)
• Skinner treats free will as a fiction covering ignorance #corroborates (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1160
• Skinner saw Enlightenment freedom values as impediments to behavioral science #qualifies (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1207
• Skinner’s behaviorism prefigured Pentland’s dismissal of the autonomous individual #expands (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1399
• Hayek grounded freedom in the inevitability of ignorance #expands (0.70) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 221
• Belief in free will functions as a defense against acknowledging environmental determinism #corroborates (0.70) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1154