Paradigms in Behavior Therapy: Present and Promise [Book Review]
Abstract
According to the editors the two purposes of this book were "to articlate the basic assumptions underlying modern behavior therapy within a philosophy-of-science context, and to sample and compare the views of systematically selected, prominent, exemplar behavior therapists with regard to the status of behavior therapy on various dimensions of the concept 'paradigm'" . These goals are important for several reasons. First, the explication of the presuppositions of behavior therapy potentially can allow a deeper understanding of behavior therapy. Second, to the extent that criticism is essential to the growth of knowledge, such an explication can expose these buried assumptions to the light of critisim and perhaps aid in the growth of behavior therapy. Third, adopting a Kuhnian perspective is important because Kuhn's views have dominated meta-scientific analyses of psychology and, if examined critically, such an analysis could provide important information regarding the value of the Kuhnian account of science