Ecological systems, social systems, and communication: The epistemological conditions of the education to complexity
Claudio Tarditi
Whereas the international development of the debate on ecology dates back almost four decades, the attempt to reconsider its framework in systemic terms is doubtlessly more recent. However, the systemic approach involves an insightful change of perspective, insofar as it is based on transdisciplinarity and complexity. From this standpoint, in this text I intend to shed light on the epistemic basis of such a systemic-transdisciplinary approach to ecology by showing the relations among biological and social systems. Secondly, I will emphasize the peculiarity of social systems as communication systems able to interact with ecological systems and observe their interaction. Lastly, I will show the ethical and educational issues at stake in the interaction between biological and social systems. In conclusion, I will argue that ecological education substantially consists in inhabiting complexity.
Keywords
Ecology, biological system, social system, complexity, communication.