Revamping the Metaphysics of Ethnobiological Classification

Abstract

Ethnobiology has a long tradition of metaphysical debates about the "naturalness,""objectivity", "reality", and "universality" of classifications. Especially the work of Brent Berlin has been influential in developing a "convergence metaphysics" that explains cross-cultural similarities of knowledge systems through shared recognition of objective discontinuities in nature. Despite its influence on the development of the field, convergence metaphysics has largely fallen out of favor as contemporary ethnobiologists tend to emphasize the locality and diversity of classificatory practices.The aim of this article is twofold: First, I provide a historical account of the rise and fall of convergence metaphysics in ethnobiology. I show how convergence metaphysics emerged as an innovative theoretical program in the wake of the "cognitive revolution" and the "modern evolutionary synthesis" but failed to incorporate both theoretical insights and political concerns that gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. Second, I develop a positive proposal of how to engage with metaphysical issues in ethnobiology. By integrating traditional research on convergence of classifications with more nuanced accounts of distinctly local categories, a revamped metaphysics of ethnobiological classification can make substantial contributions to debates about ontological difference in anthropology and about the relation between applied and theoretical ethnobiology.

Carissa spinarumL.: A Case Study in Ethnobotany and Bioprospecting Research

“…Another reason for the lack of later phases in this analysis of the ethnobiology of C. spinarum could be the nature of ethnobiological research itself. In ethnobiology in general, there has been a shift recognised in Hunn's Phases towards an ecology and action-focused research agenda and away from its roots in anthropology [199]. These research agendas do not necessarily require the naming of particular species, which may explain the relative absence of later ethnobiological phases in this species analysis.…”

Perspectival Realism

“…think of Chang 2012a on the Chemical Revolution; or work in ethnobiology, e.g. Kendig 2015;Ludwig 2018b;Ludwig and Weiskopf 2019). But debates on realism in science have failed to catch up with these trends.…”

Bases Teórico-Filosóficas Para O Design De Educação Intercultural Como Diálogo De Saberes

“…Em suma, ao pensar relações entre sistemas de conhecimento, não podemos negligenciar questões filosóficas complexas quanto a possibilidades e limitações no diálogo entre eles. No contexto das relações entre conhecimentos indígenas/campesinos/locais e conhecimentos acadêmicos, Ludwig e El-Hani (2020) identificam quatro desafios: um desafio epistemológico, decorrente do fato de que comunidades indígenas/campesinas/locais e cientistas acadêmicos usam métodos distintos para produzir e validar conhecimentos (ver, e.g., Wilson, 2008;Kovach, 2009;Marlor, 2010;Chilisa, 2012); um desafio ontológico, associado às diferentes molduras metafísicas que utilizam para compreender a experiência e pensar a realidade (ver, e.g., Kohn, 2013;Hutchison, 2014;Ellen, 2016;Ludwig, 2018); um desafio ético, uma vez que esses compromissos epistêmicos e ontológicos se encontram sempre entrelaçados com distintos sistemas de valor (ver, e.g., Anderson, 1996;Wolverton, Figueroa, & Swentzell, 2016); e, por fim, mas não menos importante, um desafio político, dado que atores sociais que são detentores de sistemas distintos de conhecimento tipicamente se encontram em posições com poder desigual para defender suas perspectivas epistemológicas, ontológicas e éticas, o que ocorre não somente em conflitos sociopolíticos mas também em práticas colaborativas (Nadasdy, 1999(Nadasdy, , 2003(Nadasdy, , 2005Ludwig, 2016).…”