Bocchi, Federica and Bokulich, Alisa and Castillo Brache, Leticia and Grand-Pierre, Gloria and Watkins, Aja (2022) Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking. [Preprint]
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Abstract
In both scientific and popular circles it is often said that we are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. Although the urgency of our present environmental crises is not in doubt, such claims of a present mass extinction are highly controversial scientifically. Our aims are, first, to get to the bottom of this scientific debate by shedding philosophical light on the many conceptual and methodological challenges involved in answering this scientific question, and, second, to offer new philosophical perspectives on what the value of asking this question has been — and whether that value persists today. We show that the conceptual challenges in defining ‘mass extinction’, uncertainties in past and present diversity assessments, and data incommensurabilities undermine a straightforward answer to the question of whether we are in, or entering, a sixth mass extinction today. More broadly we argue that an excessive focus on the mass extinction framing can be misleading for present conservation efforts and may lead us to miss out on the many other valuable insights that Earth’s deep time can offer in guiding our future.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Additional Information: | Forthcoming in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science | ||||||||||||||||||
| Keywords: | Paleontology, Historical Sciences, Philosophy of Geosciences, Philosophy of Earth Science, mass extinction, biodiversity, paleodiversity, deep time, Data, incommensurability, ecology, fossils, species, genera, taxonomy, timescales, scaling, timefulness | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Data Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Ecology/Conservation Specific Sciences > Earth Sciences Specific Sciences > Environmental Science Specific Sciences > Historical Sciences |
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| Depositing User: | Alisa Bokulich | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 11 Apr 2023 19:31 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last Modified: | 11 Apr 2023 19:31 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Item ID: | 21980 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Data Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Ecology/Conservation Specific Sciences > Earth Sciences Specific Sciences > Environmental Science Specific Sciences > Historical Sciences |
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| Date: | 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21980 |
Available Versions of this Item
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Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction?
The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking. (deposited 22 Jul 2022 22:33)
- Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking. (deposited 11 Apr 2023 19:31) [Currently Displayed]
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