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. 1994 Spring;17(1):25–33. doi: 10.1007/BF03392650

Ordinary language: The contributions of Gilbert Ryle and John Austin to the experimental analysis of behavior

T R Miles
PMCID: PMC2733702  PMID: 22478170

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show how “conceptual analysis”—the philosophical method used by Gilbert Ryle and John Austin—can contribute to behavior analysis in general and in particular to the elucidation and development of views put forward by B. F. Skinner. One of the key requirements is a sensitivity to the precise circumstances in which particular combinations of words are uttered. Without such sensitivity, it is difficult to make informed decisions as to when ways of talking should be changed and when they should be left as they are.

Keywords: verbal behavior, conceptual analysis, linguistic phenomenology, folk psychology, mentalistic words, sunrise words, logical syntax

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