Epicurus and B. F. Skinner: In search of the good life

Neuringer and colleagues compared two thinkers who lived 2,000 years apart.

One was Epicurus, an ancient Greek who said pleasure and friendship create happiness.

The other was B. F. Skinner, who said reinforcement shapes behavior.

The authors blended the two views into a single guide for living well without punishment.

Both men rejected pain as a teacher.

They favored kind, prosocial acts that feel good naturally.

The paper claims behavior analysts should set up lives full of these natural reinforcers.

Contreras et al. (2022) extends this idea.

They turn the pleasant-life vision into a daily tool: use evidence, client values, and your skill to make ethical choices.

Leland et al. (2022) also extend it.

They show how restorative justice circles create prosocial communities without any punitive control.

Lindsay (2002) seems to clash.

That paper says we must study punishment because it exists in nature.

The clash fades when you see the different goals.

Neuringer et al. paint an ideal world; R urges us to measure all processes, even aversive ones, so we can understand and reduce them.

You can build sessions around fun, choice, and shared benefit instead of threats or loss.

Pick goals the learner already enjoys, add social praise, and skip punitive procedures.

Your data stay solid while your client leaves happy—Epicurus and Skinner would both smile.