Ecophilosophy and science

Summary This paper aims to do two main things: first, to provide an introduction to ecophilosophy by presenting a spectrum of positions that have been developed to characterise the relationship between humans and their environment; second, to examine the variety of ways in which scientific work impacts upon human thought in regard to each of these positions. The import of this discussion should be twofold: first, it should help to acquaint readers with, and hopefully, interest them in, the kinds of developments that have been occurring in the area of ecophilosophy; second, it should help to acquaint environmentally concerned people with, and, hopefully, interest them in, the relevance of science to their arguments. Although many environmentally concerned people are scientifically informed, this second aim is worth stating because a number of environmentally concerned people unfortunately remain suspicious of the role of science in general.Dr Warwick Fox is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania. His first degree, in experimental psychology from the University of Western Australia, was followed by PhD in environmental philosophy. Currently his research interests are concerned with the development of a comprehensive and coherent oriented world view, from epistemology and cosmology to psychology, ethnics and politics.