Starting with a critical analysis of Skinner's ethical system, this paper points to some consequences out of this system for the practice of behavior analysis. Skinner's writings and its conceptual categories are the main source of the arguments presented. Initially, the paper draws an outline of the relation between Skinner's ethical system and selection by consequences as a causal model, proceeding, then, to the analysis of both the descriptive and prescriptive aspects of that system. The paper finishes discussing the implications of these precedent considerations for the professional exercise of behavior analysis. This last part of the paper gives special attention to the role of the behavior analyst as a political agent, and to the need to develop collaborative practices in order to deal with possible tensions between the radical behaviorist ethical system and the values of the people with which the analyst works.
Radical behaviorism; ethics; selection by consequences; behavior analysis