Towards a pragmatic view of theories in ecology,Oikos

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Towards a pragmatic view of theories in ecology
Oikos ( IF 3.1 ) Pub Date : 2021-03-25 , DOI: 10.1111/oik.07314
Bruno Travassos‐Britto ₁ , Renata Pardini ₂ , Charbel N. El‐Hani _{3,

4} , Paulo I. Prado ₁

Affiliation

Ecology has received many criticisms concerning its theoretical maturity, often on the grounds that it lacks laws and, therefore, a clear and unified theoretical background. We argue that the search for laws to understand ecological theory was prompted by the (perhaps inadvertent) adoption of an axiomatic perspective that traces back to syntactic and some semantic views of theory. We present examples showing how these views have a common logical structure, in which axioms can be interpreted as laws, even though there are semantic views that assume a more flexible perspective on theories. We then present, as an alternative, more pluralistic and process-based approaches that fall under the umbrella of pragmatic views of theories. Under this view, a theory is an ever-changing, context-dependent, collective construct, and thus does not necessarily fit into pre-defined logical structures such as those adopted by axiomatic views. We show that the diversity of models and structures found in ecological theories, as well as the way knowledge is produced within this field of science, makes ecology an exemplary candidate to be approached from a pragmatic perspective. Based on ecological succession theory as a case study, we illustrate how assuming a pragmatic view allows for new analyses that may foster our understanding of the theoretical structure and consequently further our understanding of ecological phenomena.

中文翻译：

生态学理论的实用观点

生态学因其理论成熟度而受到诸多批评，其理由往往是缺乏规律，因而缺乏清晰统一的理论背景。我们认为，为了理解生态理论而寻找规律是由于（可能是无意中）采用了一种公理化的观点，这种观点可以追溯到句法和一些语义的理论观点。我们举例说明这些观点如何具有共同的逻辑结构，其中公理可以解释为定律，即使存在假设更灵活的理论观点的语义观点。然后，作为替代，我们提出更多元化和基于过程的方法，这些方法属于实用主义的理论观点。在这种观点下，理论是一个不断变化的、依赖于上下文的、集体的建构，因此不一定适合预先定义的逻辑结构，例如公理化视图采用的逻辑结构。我们表明，在生态理论中发现的模型和结构的多样性，以及在这一科学领域内产生知识的方式，使生态学成为从务实的角度研究的模范候选人。基于生态演替理论作为案例研究，我们说明了假设一个务实的观点如何允许新的分析，这可能会促进我们对理论结构的理解，从而进一步加深我们对生态现象的理解。从实用的角度来看，生态学是一个模范候选人。基于生态演替理论作为案例研究，我们说明了假设一个务实的观点如何允许新的分析，这可能会促进我们对理论结构的理解，从而进一步加深我们对生态现象的理解。从实用的角度来看，生态学是一个模范候选人。基于生态演替理论作为案例研究，我们说明了假设一个务实的观点如何允许新的分析，这可能会促进我们对理论结构的理解，从而进一步加深我们对生态现象的理解。

更新日期：2021-06-01

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