Document: KRI-3-99-163

Ecologists and ethical expertise: Thinking like a citizen.

SHRADER-FRECHETTE, K.*

University of Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA ¹

Abstract:
Ecology is not merely a descriptive and explanatory science, but also a normative science dedicated to assessing and improving the welfare of ecosystems, communities, landscapes, and populations. Because of ecology's almost-unique normative dimension among the other sciences, ecologists face a special set of opportunities and pitfalls. The opportunities are not only to understand nature better but also to redirect public policy so that it is more preservationist and conservationist. The pitfalls are not only misguided, biased advocacy for the environment butalso science that cannot withstand the empirical and political challenges likely to be brought against it. In the face of these opportunities and challenges, Shrader-Frechette argues for ethical training for ecologists; for special attention to public-interest education in ecology education and for a specific duty of ecologists to behave as environmental and public-interest citizens and whistleblowers. To defend these positions, Shrader-Frechette shows (1) why some environmental advocacy can be objective and rationally defensible; (2) how methodological value judgments in science can mask poor science and "justify" environmentally questionable public policy; (3) how political, ethical, and epistemological education-within ecology- can help ecologists unmask poor science and redirect the questionable environmental policy that arises from poor science.

Keywords: public,citizens

This abstract is being presented at: 10:00 AM in session:
Symposium # 1: Education and Human Resources Vice President's Symposium: Defining Ecological Thinking as a Goal for Ecology Education.