Normative Concepts in Ecology and Their Consequences for Enviromental Policy

一位专门研究科学政策和环境伦理的哲学家和一位研究植物-动物-栖息地相互作用的生态学家将研究生态学中的两个基本概念：自然平衡和群落。其目的是了解(1)评估性假设在这些概念中的作用，(2)这些假设可能如何影响生态学家从他们的工作中得出的解释和结论，以及(3)由此可能给予环境保护具体政策的支持的道德合理性。每周一次的会议，两位调查人员将分析30个重点生态工程。生态学家对这两个概念的分析负有主要责任；哲学家对伦理分析负有主要责任。他们的工作草案将由一个小组发表评论，其中包括几名生态学家和历史学家，一名环境政策专家和一名专门研究伦理和环境政策的哲学家。在项目过程中，生态学的几个研究生研讨会也将研究这些问题。结果将包括一份共同撰写的手稿，研究这些概念及其前提，在环境政策制定中使用这些概念的实际后果，以及对使用这些概念的道德理由问题的可能答案。该项目将为开展对生态科学的理论和规范影响的充分分析提供重要的推动。两位调查人员都非常合格；他们都参与了研究生学习；机构支持非常好。这是电动车应该鼓励的那种跨学科协作研究的一个很好的例子。结果很可能是挑衅性的，并被广泛传播。成本是非常合理的。建议提供总额为72 044美元的支助，其中35 404美元将在本财政年度发放。

A philosopher who specializes in studies of science policy and environmental ethics and an ecologist who studies plant-animal-habitat interactions will investigate two foundational concepts in ecology: balance of nature and community. The goal is to understand (1) the roles of evaluative assumptions in these concepts, (2) how these assumptions may affect the interpretations and conclusions ecologists draw from their work, and (3) the moral justifiability of the support that may thereby be given to specific policies regarding environmental protection. Meeting weekly, the two investigators will analyze 30 key ecological works. The ecologist has primary responsibility for the analysis of the two concepts; the philosopher, for the ethical analysis. Drafts of their work will be commented on by a group including several ecologists and historians, an expert in environmental policy and a philosopher specializing in ethics and environmental policy. During the course of the project, several graduate seminars in ecology will also examine these issues. Results will include a co- authored manuscript examining the concepts and their presuppositions, the practical consequences of using them in environmental policymaking, and possible answers to questions of the moral justification for their use. This project will provide an important impetus to the development of adequate analyses of theoretical and normative implications of ecological science. The investigators are both exceptionally well- qualified; graduate studies are involved; institutional support is very good. This is a good example of the kind of cross-disciplinary collaborative research EVS should encourage. Results are likely to be provocative and widely disseminated. Costs are very reasonable. Total support in the amount of $72,044 is recommended, with $35,404 to be awarded in this fiscal year.