Looking beyond Popper: How philosophy can be relevant to ecology
- Tina Heger,
- Alkistis Elliot-Graves,
- Marie Kaiser,
- Katie Morrow,
- William Bausman,
- Gregory Dietl,
- Carsten Dormann,
- David Gibson,
- James Griesemer,
- Yuval Itescu,
- Kurt Jax,
- Andrew Latimer,
- Chunlong Liu,
- Jostein Starrfelt,
- Philip Stephens,
- Jonathan Jeschke
Tina Heger
Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in the Forschungsverbund Berlin eV
Corresponding Author:[email protected]
Author ProfileJonathan Jeschke
Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in the Forschungsverbund Berlin eV
Author ProfileAbstract
Current workflows in academic ecology rarely allow an engagement of
ecologists with philosophers, or with contemporary philosophical work.
We argue that this is a missed opportunity for enriching ecological
reasoning and practice, because many questions in ecology overlap with
philosophical questions and with current topics in contemporary
philosophy of science. One obstacle to a closer connection and
collaboration between the fields is the limited awareness of scientists,
including ecologists, of current philosophical questions, developments
and ideas. In this article, we aim to overcome this obstacle and trigger
more collaborations between ecologists and philosophers. First, we
provide an overview of philosophical research relevant to ecologists.
Second, we use examples to demonstrate that many ecological questions
have a philosophical dimension and point to related philosophical work.
We elaborate on one example -- the debate around the appropriate level
of complexity of ecological models -- to show in more detail how
philosophy can enrich ecology. Finally, we provide suggestions for how
to initiate collaborative projects involving both ecologists and
philosophers.15 Jul 2024Submitted to Oikos 15 Jul 2024Submission Checks Completed
15 Jul 2024Assigned to Editor
15 Jul 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
09 Aug 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Aug 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
25 Sep 20241st Revision Received
25 Sep 2024Submission Checks Completed
25 Sep 2024Assigned to Editor
25 Sep 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
18 Oct 2024Editorial Decision: Accept