Philosophy of science for sustainability science

Abstract

Sustainability science seeks to extend scientific investigation into domains characterized by a distinct problem-solving agenda, physical and social complexity, and complex moral and ethical landscapes. In this endeavor, it arguably pushes scientific investigation beyond its usual comfort zones, raising fundamental issues about how best to structure such investigation. Philosophers of science have long scrutinized the structure of science and scientific practices, and the conditions under which they operate effectively. We propose a critical engagement between sustainability scientists and philosophers of science with respect to how to engage in scientific activity in these complex domains. We identify specific issues philosophers of science raise concerning current sustainability science and the contributions philosophers can make to resolving them. In conclusion, we reflect on the steps philosophers of science could take to advance sustainability science.

Philosophy of sustainability experimentation _ experimental legacy, normativity and transfer of evidence

“…Engaging in these topics, this research is one of the first philosophical accounts of sustainability experimentation and it will contribute to the further development of evidence-based SS, in the framework of philosophical contributions to SS (Nagatsu et al, 2020), through a better understanding how evidence is produced in SS, how it travels, and what the barriers for a more relevant and usable knowledge are. From the perspective of philosophy, this paper enriches the philosophy of science literature by adding to the philosophical knowledge on the specific sciences, namely SS.…”

A framework linking farming resilience with productivity: empirical validation from Poland in times of crises

“…Debates over the resilience and sustainability of farming and agricultural systems usually focus on the eco-socio-economic trade-offs. However, it is important to distinguish that resilience and sustainability are two different concept in many ways (Nagatsu et al 2020 ; Shahadu 2016 ; Xu et al 2015 ). Modern sustainability means more than just the ability to maintain the system but in particular encompasses three aspects: continuance, orientation, and relationships with other contemporaries, future generations, and nature (Becker 2012 ).…”

Values, science, and competing paradigms in sustainability research: furthering the conversation

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Sustainability science is fundamentally a problem-driven and solutions-oriented science which necessitates engagement with questions of interdisciplinarity and normativity. Nagatsu et al (2020) recently investigated the significance of these peculiar characteristics and produce a useful and timely overview of the problems facing sustainability science, as a science. Perhaps the most crucial and crosscutting challenge they identify regards the need for researchers to justify the particular values guiding sustainability research.

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“…These particular characteristics necessitate engagement with questions of interdisciplinarity (in the analysis of complex sustainability problems) and, crucially, normativity (in the identification of possible solutions). Nagatsu et al (2020), in their recent article, investigate the significance of these characteristics and produce a useful and timely overview of the problems facing SS, as a science, from a philosophy of science perspective in the analytic tradition. These include discussion on epistemological issues regarding inter-and transdisciplinary methodology, science-policy interactions, and conceptual rigor and clarity, all of which represent persistent challenges of real relevance to SS research and, equally important, related practice.…”

“…In addition to these concerns, they draw attention to a particularly vital issue that, perhaps more than any other, deserves immediate and ample attention, as nothing short of the scientific integrity of the SS mission is at stake. Nagatsu et al (2020Nagatsu et al ( , p. 1813 phrase the issue at hand this way, pointing to two challenges: "Without defending a particular form of the argument from inductive risk, our point is simply to insist that it is crucial for the success of sustainability science (1) to justify how some values, including the ethical values of sustainability scientists, may legitimately enter into science, and (2) to design methods and institutions capable of countering the problematic biases that values might produce." These two challenges, while here formulated from the particular tradition of analytic philosophy, point to a long-standing question about the role of values in science, and what to do about them, also much discussed in other philosophical traditions and within the social sciences themselves.…”