Scientific Models, Paradigms and Systems of Ecology: From Symbol Apparatuses to the Real

An evolutionary framework of epistemology is presented where different paradigms offer different shadings of the ecological real. It is argued that better approximations will look cross-culturally and cross-temporally in order to increase the amount of scientifically fallible testing perspectives. General concepts are sought out, translating, for instance, a Homeric shield to a general human need for protection, and Mesopotamian agriculture to a need for sustenance. Once concepts are generalized, their recurrence becomes the best estimation of a human reality (protection, food) where the initial local abstractions (shield, agriculture) are more partial. Such interparadigmatic ideas are claimed to comprise a more sustainable view of science and interdisciplinary knowledge. (EZ)