Natural sciences and environmental issues: A contribution from the philosophy of environmental sciences

Abstract

The environmental issue has been considered a 'starting point' for certain epistemological transformations that aim at rethinking the way of performing science and interpreting the nature-society relationship. In this paper, we will explore controversial disputes in the natural science field through the analysis of a particular case study: the socio-environmental issues (SEIs) in the Argentinean Gran Chaco. Analysing the relation between scientific problems and SEIs and the traditional scientific approximations, our conclusions point that environmental issues arouse challenges to the sciences, to the way they are thought of, situated and built. They make manifestation of the idea that it is crucial to recover the 'for what' of the scientific practice, building a science that dialogues with other voices and with a starting point in local and situated problems.