Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World

This guide models effective techniques for conducting interdisciplinary environmental research in the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences. Inspired by the 2011 Cary conference, it features dialogue between leading authors from differing sectors.

To comprehensively address the complexities of current socio-ecological problems involved in global environmental change, it is indispiseble to achieve an integration of ecological understanding and ethical values. Contemporary science proposes an inclusive ecosystem concept that recognizes humans as components. Contemporary environmental ethics includes eco-social justice and the realization that as important as biodiversity is cultural diversity, inter-cultural, inter-institutional, and international collaboration requiring a novel approach known as biocultural conservation. Right action in confronting the challenges of the 21st century requires science and ethics to be seamlessly integrated. This book resulted from the 14th Cary Conference that brought together leading scholars and practitioners in ecology and environmental philosophy to discuss core terminologies, methods, questions, and practical frameworks for long-term socio-ecological research, education, and decision making.

I. Integrating philosophy and ecology: Biocultural interfaces.- II. Ecological worldviews: aesthetic, metaphors, and conservation.- III. Environmental Philosophy: ethics, epistemology, justice.- IV. Ecosystems: science, values, and action.- Index.