Summary of
Research Interests
My
research focuses on conceptual issues in two areas:
(1) the history and
philosophy of ecology,
and (2) the history and
philosophy of the complex systems sciences. These aren't unrelated, of course;
ecological communities and ecosystems are some of the most
complex systems that science studies.
I endorse a very broad conception of ecology, one that
includes ecological approaches in a variety of natural and
social sciences (e.g. ecological economics, ecological
psychology) and philosophy (e.g. ecological epistemologies,
ecological approaches to perception and cognition). So, as a
philosopher of ecology I'm interested in foundational issues
in all of these areas. Much of my research to date has
focused on the relationship between ecological science and
the problems of environmental philosophy.
As a philosopher of the complex systems sciences I'm trying
to understand the general features that distinguish sciences
of complexity (e.g. nonlinear dynamics, network theories,
theories of self-organization, etc.) from more traditional
branches of natural and social science. My hope is that this
research will illuminate the challenges facing ecology as a
science of complex systems.