Understanding Nature. Case Studies in Comparative Epistemology

Transcription

1 Understanding Nature Case Studies in Comparative Epistemology

2 The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics VOLUME 13 Editors Michiel Korthals, Dept. of Applied Philosophy, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands Paul B. Thompson, Dept. of Philosophy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A. Editorial Board Timothy Beatley, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, U.S.A. Lawrence Busch, Dept. of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, U.S.A. Anil Gupta, Centre for Management in Agriculture, Gujarat, India Richard Haynes, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Florida, Gainesville, U.S.A. Daryl Macer, The Eubios Ethics Institute, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Ben Mepham, Centre for Applied Bio-Ethics, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, United Kingdom Dietmar Mieth, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Egbert Schroten, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands Titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume

3 Hub Zwart Understanding Nature Case Studies in Comparative Epistemology

4 Hub Zwart Radboud University Nijmegen The Netherlands ISBN e-isbn Library of Congress Control Number: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com

5 Contents Part I Introduction 1 Comparative Epistemology Understanding Nature: Scientifically and Otherwise Towards a Comparative Epistemology of Divergent Knowledge Forms Cross Sections: A Synchronic Approach Going Through the Archives: Preliminary Issues Epistemological Neurosis in Frankenstein Outline Antecedents: Comparative Epistemology as an Outcome Epistemology as Therapy Kant: Why a Third Critique? Comparative Dialectics Phenomenology: Science and its Discontents Gaston Bachelard: Preparing the Ground for a Comparative Epistemology Part II Animal Epistemology 3 What is an Animal? A Comparative Epistemology of Animals Reasoning Animals: On the Truthfulness of Literature and Science The Comical, the Tragic and the Biblical View Classifying, Dissecting and Slaughtering Animals Darwin: Prelude, Climax and Aftermath Animals as Epistemologically Privileged Beings v

6 vi Contents 4 What is a Whale? Moby-Dick, Marine Science and the Sublime Why Moby-Dick? An Introduction What is a Whale? The Epistemology of Self-exposure Versus the Epistemology of Self-restraint On Classifying Whales Whaling and Philosophy: The Meditating Sailor And God Created Great Whales: The Philosophy of the Sublime Will the Whale Perish? The Ethics of Moby-Dick Concluding Remarks What is a Dog? Animal Experiments and Animal Novels Prelude: The Year 1859 and the Triumph of Realism A Short History of the Research Animal Claude Bernard: The Epistemology of Destruction Research Animals as Partners? Ivan Pavlov s Chronic Method Animal Experiments in Literary Documents An Experimental Dog Novel The Experimental Animal-self The Birth of a Research Animal: Ibsen s The Wild Duck and The Origin of a New Animal Science Introduction Preliminary Remarks The Wild Duck: Close Reading The Emergence of a New Research Paradigm: Spalding and Morgan The Wild Duck: Close Reading A New Scientific Practice The Scientific Gaze The Scientific and the Romantic Gaze Ethical Dimension Well-being of the Research Animal Integrity of the Research Animal The Death of the Research Animal From Awe-inspiring Nature to Managed Environment Part III Plants, Landscapes and Environments 7 Aquaphobia, Tulipmania, Biophilia: A Moral Geography of the Dutch Landscape Introduction An Elementary History

7 Contents vii 7.3 Simultaneous Reformations: Shifting Physiognomies Tulipmania, or the Beautiful and the Sublime Growing Tensions Poetry as the Art of Remembrance Romanticism and the Emergence of a More Natural Natural Science Challenged Ideals Down with the Dikes Taming Microbes: Ibsen s Dr. Stockmann as a Contemporary of Pasteur and Koch Introduction Stockmann as a Man of Science Stockmann as a Whistleblower Stockmann as a Microbe Hunter Taming the Micro- and the Macro-monster Pea Stories. Why was Mendel s Research Ignored in 1866 and Rediscovered in 1900? Introduction The Imperfection of the Biographical Record Mendel: A Case Study Mendel s Predecessors Separate and Recombine Playing Chess with Nature Science Communication The Year Jules Verne s Oeuvre: A Literary Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology To the Centre of the Earth Verne s Work as an Encyclopaedia of Arts and Sciences Extremophilia: Experimental Research Under Extreme Conditions Elementary Imagination: Verne s Work as Teratology Part IV Conclusion 11 Epistemological Exercises: Towards a Typology of Knowledge Forms What is Knowledge? An Epistemological Typology of Literary Forms The Nineteenth Century

8 viii Contents 11.4 Two Cultures? A Grand Idea ( How Large the World is ) Prospects for Further Research: Some Case Studies in Broad Outline Literature Name Index