Science Studies and the Environment

The Philosophy Department has actively participated with the Environmental Studies Program to create a concentration in "Science Studies and the Environment" for Environmental Studies majors. As a result, many courses in the philosophy of science engage environmental issues, and many courses in environmental philosophy investigate the nature of scientific practice and technological development and their impact on perceptions of and policies concerning the environment.

Courses in philosophy of science include: an analysis of the nature of scientific practice, the methods of science, the institutions of science and technology, the social and historical contexts in which science is practiced and technology developed, and the impact of science and technological development on society. We pursue the perspective that science is a social practice and thus must be investigated through the lens of cultural studies. But many members of the department also believe that naturalized approaches to knowledge and rationality, particularly those grounded in current theorizing from the cognitive sciences, are another important resource for understanding the practice of science. Thus, we consider an enriched approach to naturalizing science studies.

Philosophy of science at the University of Oregon is approached through the intersection of traditions that is the hallmark of our department. Our unique blend of cultural and naturalizing approaches to the study of science emerges out of our grounding in American pragmatic beliefs in a fundamental organism/ environment interaction and the inseparability of issues of knowledge and issues of value. Analytic philosophical approaches to rationality and objectivity are compared to and enriched through Continental theories of practice and interpretation. And insights from feminist science studies are a component of most classes, providing both an additional lens on epistemological issues in the sciences, as well as a study of the impact of values (including those concerning gender, race, sexuality, and able-bodiedness) upon scientific and technological practices.

Courses in environmental studies investigate the various meanings of the term "environment" and explore what it means to have ethical relations within that environment. At its core, our approach to environmental philosophy places equal weight upon metaphysical and ethical inquiry, convinced, as we are, that justice can only be served if one knows the nature of the beings with whom one would live justly.

Unsurprisingly, our approach to issues in environmental philosophy is multifaceted. Several perspectives receive a hearing in our effort to explore the moral and ontological standing of the human and more than human world, e.g. critical theory, deep ecology, ecofeminism, indigenous approaches, phenomenology, pragmatism, rights theorists, land ethics, etc. Such inquiries are also complemented with questions, insights, and presumptions drawn from the history of philosophy, thus bringing a thoroughly historical perspective to environmental philosophy. Our interests include philosophical work on the role of place in human experience and Native American perspectives on the environment understood within the broader context of Native thought.

The philosophy department works closely with the University’s Environmental Studies Program, and thus our students may pursue research within and across several disciplines.

Course Offerings:

Environmental Ethics
Environmental Philosophy
Feminist and Post-colonial Science Studies
Philosophy of Science
Science, Technology and Gender
Science Studies and the Environment

Philosophy Faculty:

Mark Johnson
John Lysaker
Scott Pratt
Naomi Zack

Links:

Environmental Studies Program

Environmental Philosophy
the official journal of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP)

Taking Nature Seriously