Philosophical Foundations for the Practices of Ecology

by William A. Reiners , Jeffrey A. Lockwood

• ISBN13: 9780521133036
• ISBN10: 0521133033
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-14
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Ecologists use a remarkable range of methods and techniques to understand complex, inherently variable, and functionally diverse entities and processes across a staggering range of spatial, temporal and interactive scales. These multiple perspectives make ecology very different to the exemplar of science often presented by philosophers. In Philosophical Foundations for the Practices of Ecology, designed for graduate students and researchers, ecology is put into a new philosophical framework that engages with this inherent pluralism while still placing constraints on the ways that we can investigate and understand nature. The authors begin by exploring the sources of variety in the practice of ecology and how these have led to the current conceptual confusion. They argue that the solution is to adopt the approach of constrained perspectivism and go on to explore the ontological, metaphysical, and epistemological aspects of this position and how it can be used in ecological research and teaching.

Author Biography

Bill Reiners has practiced ecology for 45 years. His practice has primarily been focused at the ecosystem level, mare specifically with biogeochemical phenomena. He has been recognized as an ISI Highly cited researcher, and has been recognized with a number of campus-wide awards at the University of Wyoming, and as a distinguished alumnus of Rutgers university. Jeff Lockwood has practiced ecology for 25 years. Fascinated by the interface between the natural sciences and humanities, he now enjoys a joint appointment at the university of Wyoming between the department of philosophy and the MFA program in creative writing. His writing has been recognized with a Pushcart Prize and a John Burroughs Award.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Conceptual confusion in ecology	p. 9
The roots of confusion	p. 9
From the roots to the twigs of ecology: uncertainty about what is	p. 15
The tangled terminological bank	p. 22
Branching ways of knowing	p. 25
Our cacophonous confusion	p. 28
Causes of ecology's conceptual confusion	p. 37
A philosophical armistice for ecology	p. 37
A little comparative theater: idealized physics versus actual ecology	p. 38
The bedevilment of complexity and variability	p. 41
The vexation of historicity	p. 44
The curse (and blessing) of scale	p. 47
A perfect storm: variation, history and scale	p. 54
The implications of ecology's demons	p. 57
Finding ourselves in philosophical terms	p. 67
Ecologist, heal thyself	p. 67
A walk in the philosophical park	p. 67
Ecological pragmatism and constrained perspectivism: an introduction	p. 78
Many perspectives, but not any perspective	p. 78
Giere's scientific perspectivism	p. 80
Ecology's broader perspective	p. 82
Perspectivism is not relativism	p. 86
Ecological pragmatism and constrained perspectivism: ontology	p. 90
Existence as contingence	p. 90
An ontological commitment to ecological processes	p. 91
An ontological "middle way"	p. 93
Ecological pragmatism and constrained perspectivism: metaphysics	p. 97
The properties of reality	p. 97
A metaphysical "middle way"	p. 99
Diversity as a metaphysical virtue of ecology	p. 101
Constraining perspectives to avoid ecological anarchy	p. 102
Ecological pragmatism and constrained perspectivism: epistemology	p. 106
Ecology and politics: pluralism makes strange bedfellows	p. 107
Basic and applied ways of knowing	p. 108
Contingent knowing is genuine knowledge	p. 113
Ecological pragmatism and constrained perspectivism: a summary	p. 117
World-making through philosophical and ecological collaboration	p. 117
Constrained perspectivism and the pragmatic tradition	p. 124
The consequences of constrained perspectivism for ecology	p. 126
The practice of constrained perspectivism in ecology	p. 130
How do ecologists practice philosophy?	p. 130
General theory and pragmatism in population ecology	p. 131
Theory and contingencies in community ecology	p. 133
Theory and practice in ecosystem ecology	p. 137
How we perambulate through our research careers	p. 141
How wants, needs and chance drive science: tales from Reiners' experience	p. 142
How wants, needs and chance drive science: tales from Lockwood's experience	p. 146
What constrained perspectivism offers to the teaching of ecology	p. 155
Ecology is difficult	p. 155
Framing the educational challenges: an overview	p. 157
Baccalaureate teaching: what the students encounter	p. 159
Baccalaureate learning: the nature of our students	p. 165
Baccalaureate education: how might philosophy become integrated?	p. 173
Graduate student learning: pursuing a career in ecology	p. 190
Implications for "post degree" learners	p. 194
The heroic handyman and the future of ecology	p. 195
The handyman as liberator	p. 195
The handyman saves ecology from a premature demise	p. 197
Glossary of philosophical terms	p. 201
Index	p. 206
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