Abstract

Five appropriate roles of professional philosophers in environmental scholarship, policy and education are explored. Philosophers can and should function as social critics, as conceptual analysts, as “critical spectators” of science, as ethicists, and as educators. An example of the philosopher's role as social critic may be found in the analysis of the methods and presuppositions of public policy making. The philosopher as conceptual analyst can add clarity to environmental debates through analyses of such terms as “ecosystem”, “integrity”, “responsibiity” and “nature”. “Meta-Science” is exemplified in an examination of the role of values in scientific investigation and in the scientist's contributions to public policy-making. The philosopher as environmental ethicist should seek a balanced and integrated view of both the naturalness of the human condition, and of the unique human quality of moral agency. Finally, all these contributions, and more, are combined in the philosopher's function as educator—first, of his student, and also of his profession, his academic colleagues, public policymakers, and the public at large.