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The Metaphorical Links Between Ecology, Ethics, and Society

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Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World

Part of the book series: Ecology and Ethics ((ECET,volume 1))

Abstract

It is now widely understood that metaphors are not simply rhetorical embellishment in science, but serve a critical epistemic role for the creation and exploration of theories. Three prevalent ecological metaphors—competition, invasion, and resilience—serve as examples and touchstones of the role of metaphors in ecology, and how their origin and operation as “feedback metaphors” interweaves ecology with its social context. In each case, the social origin of these metaphors implies that they are value-laden at the level of interpretation (i.e., due to their resonance with everyday language) and/or at the level of worldview (i.e., due to the way they highlight some aspects of a comparison while hiding others). Thus, metaphoric choices in ecology should be subject to ethical scrutiny. In effect, this necessitates paying attention to the “evolutionary ecology” of metaphors in ecology itself—that is, attention to factors such as their context, diversity, history, and scale. These normative elements in metaphors bear directly on perennial discussions about objectivity and advocacy in ecology, and how ecologists should use metaphors in science while being cognizant of and sensitive to their social context.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Epistemic means “of or pertaining to knowledge.” In this sentence, notice several instrumental metaphors (“instrument” and “function”) for metaphors.

  2. 2.

    Note that this choice of a metaphor is steeped in a cybernetic view of the world (see Larson 2011a).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Brendon M. H. Larson

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  1. Brendon M. H. Larson
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Correspondence to Brendon M. H. Larson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas, Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Department of Philosophy and Religion St, Denton, USA

    Ricardo Rozzi

  2. Plant Ecology, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA

    S.T.A. Pickett

  3. Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA

    Clare Palmer

  4. Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Juan J. Armesto

  5. Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas, Denton, USA

    J. Baird Callicott

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Larson, B.M.H. (2013). The Metaphorical Links Between Ecology, Ethics, and Society. In: Rozzi, R., Pickett, S., Palmer, C., Armesto, J., Callicott, J. (eds) Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World. Ecology and Ethics, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7470-4_11

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