According to Logical Behaviorism (Ryle, Carnap), the statement that
Johnny believes that it will rain today
is reducible to the statement that
Johnny is disposed to behave as if it will rain today.
Thus ordinary folk-psychological explanations are eliminable in favor of descriptions of behavioral dispositions.
Important Points:
- Logical Behaviorism a'la Ryle and Carnap denies that there is anything to our mental lives beyond our behavioral dispositions.
- The puzzle over psychophysical relations (Descartes' principle problem) does not arise.
Contrast Logical Behaviorism with Methodological Behaviorism:
Methodological Behaviorism (Skinner, et. al.) asserts that adequate psychological explanations can be given that employ only descriptions of behavioral dispositions, whatever the source of those dispositions.
Thus,
One could be a Methodological Behaviorist without being a Logical Behaviorist:
There is a mind directing behavior, but we don't have access to it for purposes of explanation.
One could be both a Methodological Behaviorist and a Logical Behaviorist:
There is no independent mind directing behavior; all we have for purposes of explanation are bodies and their behavioral dispositions.