Nonterminating Disagreements and Implicit Presuppositions: B. F. Skinner and Carl R. Rogers

Abstract

In this paper it is argued that nonterminating disagreements (such as those that Skinner and Rogers represent within the field of psychology) are likely to be associated with contrasting patterns of "implicit presuppositions." Nineteen subjects rated each of two essays, one by Skinner and the other by Rogers, on eleven bipolar presuppositions. There was consensus among raters that the Skinnerian and Rogerian positions contained significantly different presuppositions. An interpretation of disagreements between these two schools of psychology is offered in terms of the contrasting patterns of presuppositions that were identified.

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