PhilosophyMagazine

Dear Dr Gibbs,

Subject—A Challenge to Debate Behaviorism vs Existentialism

Quotation—Restricting knowledge to a small group of people deadens the philosophical spirit and leads to spiritual poverty. —Albert Einstein

I am writing to ask you to engage in a public debate regarding the psychological model preferred by doctors.  I would argue for existentialism and you would argue for behaviorism.  If you would prefer to argue for a model other than behaviorism, then I would ask you to write a sixteen-hundred word essay detailing your proposed psychological model.  Behaviorism tells us how to behave while existentialism self-teaches us to Be.

The Freudian cognitive model has the ego choosing between the id (or self or soul) and the superego (or government).  If the ego chooses the superego in times of moral uncertainty then it is behaviorism.  If the ego chooses the id in times of moral uncertainty then it is existentialism.  My argument is that by not specifically selecting existentialism the option defaults to behaviorism.

I would argue that embracing existentialism represents the first step towards realizing self-awareness in people.  I am asking you to contact me at your earliest convenience so that we can work out the details of this important project.

Sincerely,

Christopher Bek

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