The ethical foundations of behavior therapy.

Area of Science:

• Ethics
• Behavioral Psychology
• Philosophy of Science

Background:

• Behavior therapy relies on ethical justifications for its practices.
• Current meta-ethical views among behavior therapists may hinder objective moral reasoning.
• Ethical subjectivism, skepticism, and relativism are prevalent but problematic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the ethical foundations of behavior therapy.
• To question the possibility of providing ethical justifications within therapy.
• To propose an alternative ethical framework for behavior therapy.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis of normative and meta-ethics.
• Critique of subjectivist, skeptical, and relativistic ethical theories.
• Development of a model for objective moral justification.

Main Results:

• Certain widely accepted meta-ethical views in behavior therapy must be abandoned.
• Ethical subjectivism, skepticism, and relativism are incompatible with robust ethical justification.
• A sketch of a nonsubjective, nonskeptical, and nonrelativistic moral justification model is presented.

Conclusions:

• Behavior therapy requires a move towards objective ethical foundations.
• The proposed model offers a way to justify therapeutic actions non-subjectively.
• This framework aligns with the core values of behavior therapy.