Abstract
The distinction between a context of discovery and one of justification with regard to scientific activities (hereafter: DJ distinction) has developed a remarkable life of its own in 20th century philosophy of science and beyond, eventually becoming an influential conceptual device. Hans Reichenbach’s exposition provided the major starting point for a broad discussion, within which several versions of the distinction emerged.1 One can safely state that no such thing as one single proper DJ distinction exists. Rather, it implies a richness of different perspectives on the relation between historical and philosophical approaches to science.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
REFERENCES
Anker, Peder J. (2001), Imperial ecology. Environmental order in the British Empire, 1895–1945. Cambridge, MA and Landon: Harvard University Press.
Anker, Peder J. (2002), “The context of ecosystem theory,” Ecosystems 5: 611–613.
Beatty John (1995), “The evolutionary contingency hypothesis,” in G. Wolters, J. G. Lennox (eds.), Concepts, theories, and rationality in the biological sciences (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press), pp. 45–81.
Begon, Michael, John L. Harper and Colin R. Townsend (1996), Ecology-Individuals, Populations and Communities. 3rd ed. (London: Blackwell).
Begon, Michael, John L. Harper and Colin R. Townsend (2000), Essentials of Ecology (London: Blackwell).
Ford, E. David (2000), Scientific Method for Ecological Research (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Golley, Frank B. (1993), A History of the Ecosystem Concept in Ecology. More Than the Sum of Parts (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).
Hagen, Joel B. (1992), An Entangled Bank. The Origins of Ecosystem Ecology (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press).
Haila, Yrjö (1997), “Trivialization of critique in ecology” Biology and Philosophy 12: 109–118.
Hoyningen-Huene, Paul (1987), “Context of discovery and context of justification,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 18(4): 501–515.
Jax, Kurt (1998), “Holocoen and ecosystem. On the origin and historical consequences of two concepts,” Journal of the History of Biology 31(1): 113–142.
Jax, Kurt (2002), Die Einheiten der Ökologie. Analyse, Methodenentwicklung und Anwendung, Theorie in der Ökologie Vol. 5, (Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang).
Leps, Günther (1998), “Ökologie und Ökosystemforschung,” in I. Jahn (ed.), Geschichte der Biologie. Theorien, Methoden, Institutionen, Kurzbiographien. 3. neubearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage (Jena: Gustav Fischer), pp. 601–619.
Levins, Richard (1968). Evolution in Changing Environments. Some Theoretical Explorations (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Mayr, Ernst (1988), Toward a New Philosophy of Biology. Observations of an Evolutionist (Cambridge, MA: Belknap).
Machamer, Peter, Lindley Darden and Carl F. Craver (2000), “Thinking about mechanisms,” Philosophy of Science 67: 1–15.
Nickles, Thomas (1980), “Introductory essay: Scientific discovery and the future of philosophy of science,” in T. Nickles (ed.), Scientific Discovery, Logic, and Rationality. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Vol. 56, (Dordrecht: Reidel), pp. 1–59.
Peters, Robert H. (1991), A Critique for Ecology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Pickett, Steward T. A., Thomas Parker and Peggy L. Fiedler (1992), “The new paradigm in ecology: implications for conservation biology above the species level,” in: P. L. Fiedler, S. K. Jain (eds.), Conservation Biology. The Theory and Practice of Conservation, Preservation and Management (New York: Chapman and Hall), pp. 65–88.
Potthast, Thomas (1996), “Inventing Biodiversity: Genetics, Evolution, and Environmental Ethics,” Biologisches Zentralblatt 115(2): 177–185.
Potthast, Thomas (1999), Die Evolution und der Naturschutz. Zum Verhältnis von Evolutionsbiologie, Ökologie und Naturethik (Campus: Frankfurt a.M. and New York).
Potthast, Thomas (2000), “Bioethics and epistemic-moral hybrids: Perspectives from the history of science,” Biomedical Ethics 5(1): 20–23.
Potthast, Thomas (2001), “Gefährliche Ganzheitsbetrachtung oder geeinte Wissenschaft von Leben und Umwelt? Epistemisch-moralische Hybride in der deutschen Ökologie 1925–1955,” Verhandlungen zur Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie 7: 91–114.
Potthast, Thomas (2001), “Die wahre Natur ist Veränderung. Zur Ikonoklastik des ökologischen Gleichgewichts,” in L. Fischer (ed.), Projektionsfläche Natur (Hamburg: Hamburg University Press), pp. 194–223.
Reich, Michael and Volker Grimm (1996), “Das Metapopulationskonzept in Ökologie und Naturschutz: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme,” Zeitschrift für Ökologie und Naturschutz 5: 123–139.
Reichenbach, Hans (1938), Experience and prediction. An analysis of the foundations and the structure of knowledge (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
Rheinberger, Hans-Jörg (1997), Toward a history of epistemic things. Synthesizing proteins in the test tube (Stanford: Stanford University Press).
Schwarz, Astrid E. (2003), Wasserwüste, Mikrokosmos, Ökosystem. Eine Geschichte der, Eroberung' des Wasserraums (Freiburg i. Br.: Rombach).
Simberloff, Daniel (1980), “A succession of paradigms in ecology: essentialism to materialism and probabilism,” Synthese 43: 3–39.
Takacs, David (1996), The idea of biodiversity. Philosophies of paradise (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press).
Tansley, Arthur G. (2002), “The temporal genetic series as a means of approach to philosophy,” Presented before the Magdalen Philosophy Club of Oxford University on 5 May 1932, first publication prepared by Peder Anker, Ecosystems 5: 611–613.
Taylor, Peter J. (1988), “Technocratic optimism, H. T. Odum, and the partial transformation of ecological metaphor after World War II,” Journal of the History of Biology 21(2): 213–244.
Trepl, Ludwig (1987), Geschichte der Ökologie. Vom 17. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart (Frankfurt a.M.: Athenäum).
Weber, Marcel (1999), “The aim and structure of ecological theory,” Philosophy of Science 66: 71–93.
Worster, Donald (1994), Nature's Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press).
Worthington, Edgar B. (1975), The Evolution of IBP (International Biological Programme) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
POTTHAST, T. (2006). CONTEXTS OF JUSTIFYING AND DISCOVERING THE NATURE OF ECOSYSTEMS: FROM CONCEPTS TO OBJECTS AND VICE VERSA. In: SCHICKORE, J., STEINLE, F. (eds) Revisiting Discovery and Justification. Archimedes, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4251-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4251-5_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4250-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4251-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)