Springer The Structural Links between Ecology, Evolution and Ethics: The Virtuous Epistemic Circle (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science)

Evolutionary biology, ecology and ethics: at first glance, three different objects of research, three different worldviews and three different scientific communities. In reality, there are both structural and historical links between these disciplines. First, some topics are obviously common across the board. Second, the emerging need for environmental policy management has gradually but radically changed the relationship between these disciplines. Over the last decades in particular, there has emerged a need for an interconnecting meta-paradigm that integrates more strictly evolutionary studies, biodiversity studies and the ethical frameworks that are most appropriate for allowing a lasting co-evolution between natural and social systems. Today such a need is more than a mere luxury, it is an epistemological and practical necessity. Review “Donato Bergandi … has produced important works in philosophy of ecology and environmental ethics … . This book is a very well organized one, covering various scientific and philosophical issues and debates. It is a highly recommended reading for a wide audience, including ecologists, evolutionary biologists and philosophers interested in environmental issues. … it can also be useful in introductory courses in environmental ethics as well as in history and philosophy of ecology/evolution courses.” (Nei de Freitas Nunes-Neto, Science & Education, Vol. 24, June, 2015) From the Back Cover Evolutionary biology, ecology and ethics: at first glance, three different objects of research, three different worldviews and three different scientific communities. In reality, there are both structural and historical links between these disciplines. First, some topics are obviously common across the board. Second, the emerging need for environmental policy management has gradually but radically changed the relationship between these disciplines. Over the last decades in particular, there has emerged a need for an interconnecting meta-paradigm that integrates more strictly evolutionary studies, biodiversity studies and the ethical frameworks that are most appropriate for allowing a lasting co-evolution between natural and social systems. Today such a need is more than a mere luxury, it is an epistemological and practical necessity.In short, the authors of this volume address some of the foundational themes that interconnect evolutionary studies, ecology and ethics. Here they have chosen to analyze a topic using one of these specific disciplines as a kind of epistemological platform with specific links to topics from one or both of the remaining disciplines.