Many Social Practices Essential To The Welfare

The Problem Of Far Greater Importance Remains To Be Solved. Rather Than Build A World In Which We Shall All Live Well, We Must Stop Building One In Which It Will Be Impossible To Live At All.

A Person Who Has Been Punished Is Not Thereby Simply Less Inclined To Behave In A Given Way; At Best, He Learns How To Avoid Punishment.

A Child Who Has Been Severely Punished For Sex Play Is Not Necessarily Less Inclined To Continue; And A Man Who Has Been Imprisoned For Violent Assault Is Not Necessarily Less Inclined Toward Violence.

Any Single Historical Event Is Too Complex To Be Adequately Known By Anyone. It Transcends All The Intellectual Capacities Of Men. Our Practice Is To Wait Until A Sufficient Number Of Details Have Been Forgotten. Of Course Things Seem Simpler Then! Our Memories Work That Way; We Retain The Facts Which Are Easiest To Think About.

To Say That A Man Is Sinful Because He Sins Is To Give An Operational Definition Of Sin. To Say That He Sins Because He Is Sinful Is To Trace His Behavior To A Supposed Inner Trait. But Whether Or Not A Person Engages In The Kind Of Behavior Called Sinful Depends Upon Circumstances Which Are Not Mentioned In Either Question. The Sin Assigned As An Inner Possession (the Sin A Person "knows") Is To Be Found In A History Of Reinforcement.