Geo-Logic: Breaking Ground between Philosophy and the Earth Sciences

by Robert Frodeman

Overview

Using a unified vision of geology, consisting of equal parts geo-poetry, geo-politics, geo-theology, and geo-science, Geo-Logic redraws the boundaries between philosophy and the earth sciences. Although each discipline makes crucial contributions to contemporary environmental concerns, neither will fulfill its potential until it transforms itself by engaging the other. This book offers examples of how to relate environmental philosophy to science, public policy, and real world problems, and shows what is epistemologically distinctive about scientific work and how to respond to the cultural dynamics that are pulling these issues into the public sphere. Frodeman advocates humanizing the earth sciences and bringing philosophy into the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791487440
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Series:	SUNY series in Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	196
File size:	372 KB

About the Author

Robert Frodeman, a philosopher with a background in the earth sciences, has worked for the U. S. Geological Survey for many years. He was the 2001–2002 Hennebach Visiting Professor in the Humanities at the Colorado School of Mines and is currently Research Scientist at the Center for Science and Technology Policy at the University of Colorado, where he is also the Director of the Global Climate Change and Society Program. He is the editor of Earth Matters: The Earth Sciences, Philosophy, and the Claims of Community.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. Acid Mine Philosophy

3. Corrosive Effects: Environmental Ethics and the Metaphysics of Acid Mine Drainage

4. The Places of Science: The Heavens, the Lab, the Field, and the Screen

5. Earth Stories

6. The Philosophy of (Field) Science

7. Being and Geologic Time: The Meeting of Metaphysics and Politics

8. Science and the Public Self

Conclusion

Notes

Index