The Philosophy of Ecology

by Keller, David R.; Golley, Frank B.

• ISBN13: 9780820322209
• ISBN10: 0820322202
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

This is the first introductory anthology on the philosophy of ecology edited by an ecologist and a philosopher. It illustrates the range of philosophical approaches available to ecologists and provides a basis for understanding the thinking on which many of today's environmental ideas are founded. Collectively, these seminal readings make a powerful statement on the value of ecological knowledge and thinking in alleviating the many problems of modern industrial civilization. Issues covered include: the challenges of defining scientific ecology, tracing its genealogy, and distinguishing the science from various forms of "ecological-like" thinking the ontology of ecological entities and processes selected concepts of community, stability, diversity, and niche the methodology of ecology (rationalism and empiricism, reductionism and holism) the significance of evolutionary law for ecological science

Author Biography

David R. Keller is an assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Center for the Study of Ethics at Utah Valley State College. Frank B. Golley (1930-2006) was Research Professor of Ecology, professor of zoology, and professor of environmental design at the University of Georgia. His books include A Primer for Environmental Literacy, A History of the Ecosystem Concept, and Tropical Rainforest Systems.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	ix
Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction: Ecology as a Science of Synthesis	1	(20)
PART ONE. Entities and Process in Ecology	21	(80)
Preface to Plant Succession: An Analysis of the Development of Vegetation	35	(7)
Frederic E. Clements
The Individualistic Concept of the Plant Association	42	(13)
Henry A. Gleason
The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts and Terms	55	(16)
Arthur G. Tansley
A Succession of Paradigms in Ecology: Essentialism to Materialism and Probabilism	71	(10)
Daniel Simberloff
Life after Newton: An Ecological Metaphysic	81	(20)
Robert E. Ulanowicz
PART TWO. Community, Niche, Diversity, and Stability	101	(32)
An Oyster Bank Is a Bioconose, or a Social Community	111	(4)
Karl Mobius
On the Reasons for Distinguishing Niche, Habitat, and Ecotope	115	(4)
Robert H. Whittaker
Simon A. Levin
Richard B. Root
Biological Diversity in Ecology	119	(5)
Ruth Patrick
Stability in Ecological Communities	124	(9)
Andrew Redfearn
Stuart L. Pimm
PART THREE. Rationalism and Empiricism	133	(100)
The Bucket and the Searchlight: Two Theories of Knowledge	141	(6)
Karl R. Popper
The Role of Theory in Ecology	147	(6)
Robert M. May
Community Ecology, Population Biology, and the Method of Case Studies	153	(28)
Kristin Shrader-Frechette
Earl D. McCoy
PART FOUR. Reductionism and Holism
Mechanistic Approaches to Ecology: A New Reductionism?	181	(13)
Thomas W. Schoener
The Emergence of Ecology as a New Integrative Discipline	194	(10)
Eugene P. Odum
``Reductionist Holism'': An Oxymoron or a Philosophical Chimera of Eugene Odum's Systems Ecology?	204	(14)
Donato Bergandi
Dialectics and Reductionism in Ecology	218	(8)
Richard Levins
Richard C. Lewontin
Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological Complexity	226	(7)
T. F. H. Allen
Thomas B. Starr
PART FIVE. Ecology and Evolution	233	(87)
The Metaphysics of Evolution	247	(16)
David L. Hull
The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Program	263	(14)
Stephen J. Gould
Richard C. Lewontin
How to Carry Out the Adaptationist Program?	277	(11)
Ernst Mayr
Evolutionary Ecology and the Use of Natural Selection in Ecological Theory	288	(16)
James P. Collins
Evolution: The Missing Ingredient in Systems Ecology	304	(16)
Craig Loehle
Joseph H. K. Pechmann
Afterword	320	(3)
Literature Cited	323	(38)
Index	361