What isn't wrong with ecosystem ecology
| Abstract | Philosophers of the life sciences have devoted considerably more attention to evolutionary theory and genetics than to the various sub-disciplines of ecology, but recent work in the philosophy of ecology suggests reflects a growing interest in this area (Cooper 2003; Ginzburg and Colyvan 2004). However, philosophers of biology and ecology have focused almost entirely on conceptual and methodological issues in population and community ecology; conspicuously absent are foundational investigations in ecosystem ecology. This situation is regrettable. Ecosystem concepts play a central role in many branches of theoretical and applied ecology, and in environmental literature generally. Indeed, for some historians, the division of ecological theory into population-community and ecosystem research traditions, and the methodological and conceptual debates that have arisen between workers in these respective camps, is the distinguishing feature of 20th century ecological science (Hagen 1992). These include debates over, among others: reductionistic vs. holistic research methodologies; the existence and metaphysics of ecological “kinds”; the relationship between evolutionary mechanisms and ecosystem phenomena; and the nature and scope of ecological science and its relationship to other branches of natural and social science. Philosophers of ecology have written on all these topics, but almost exclusively from the theoretical perspective of population, community or evolutionary ecology. Philosophical attention to these issues from the perspective of ecosystem ecology is long overdue. It would be misleading to assert that philosophers in general have ignored ecosystem ecology. Environmental philosophers, including environmental ethicists so-called “radical” environmental philosophers (deep ecologists, social ecologists, ecofeminists, etc.), and policy theorists, have had a long-standing interest in ecosystem ecology (e.g. Callicott 1986; Cahen 1988; Warren and Cheney 1993; Westra 1994; Sagoff 1997; Fitzsimmons 1999).. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesGregory John Cooper (2003). The Science of the Struggle for Existence: On the Foundations of Ecology. Cambridge University Press.
Stanley N. Salthe & Barbara M. Salthe (1989). Ecosystem Moral Considerability: A Reply to Cahen. Environmental Ethics 11 (4):355-361.
Donato Bergandi & Patrick Blandin (1998). Holism Vs. Reductionism: Do Ecosystem Ecology and Landscape Ecology Clarify the Debate? Acta Biotheoretica 46 (3).
Donato Bergandi (2000). Eco-Cybernetics: The Ecology and Cybernetics of Missing Emergences. Kybernetes 29 (7/8):928-942..
Karen J. Warren & Jim Cheney (1991). Ecological Feminism and Ecosystem Ecology. Hypatia 6 (1):179 - 197.
Karen J. Warren & Jim Cheney (1993). Ecosystem Ecology and Metaphysical Ecology: A Case Study. Environmental Ethics 15 (2):99-116.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads32 ( #37,825 of 548,977 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,511 of 548,977 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
