Pragmatism, Science, And Society: A Review Of Richard Rorty's Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers, Volume 1.

The author read Richard Rorty's big book on pragmatism. Then he lined up each idea with B. F. Skinner's radical behaviorism.

He asked: Do these two camps agree on science, mind-body talk, and social change? He wrote a side-by-side scorecard.

The match was almost perfect. Both say truth is what works, not what mirrors some hidden world.

They part ways on one point: Rorty thinks science is just one more story; Skinner sees it as our best tool for cultural survival.

Watson et al. (2007) extends this idea into daily ethics. They show how Dewey-style team talk can settle value clashes when data alone fall short.

Moore (2022) turns the same philosophy into a full grad course. Students trace the eight roots of radical behaviorism and practice explaining them to outsiders.

Malone (1999) gives Skinner's own last words. Reading the two 1999 papers together shows Skinner still defending science as culture's engine, while Rorty calls it optional.

You can borrow Rorty's plain language when you train teachers or parents. Drop the word "contingency" and say "what tends to work." The bridge is already built; you just walk across it.