Spring 2009 Karbank Symposium in Environmental Philosophy

Systems Biology Framed by Ecology: Historical and Contemporary Conceptual Perspectives

The Karbank Symposium, an annual lecture series, offers a forum for discussing issues in environmental philosophy broadly construed. Topics range from biodiversity, transgenic respeciation and global warming to nature aesthetics. The colloquia are designed to provide a forum for distinguished philosophers of various backgrounds to address their work to a broad audience. The Symposium is named in honor of Steven Karbank, a generous benefactor of the Boston University Department of Philosophy and major sponsor of the series.

Monday, March 23, 2009, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
The Castle, 225 Bay State Rd.
Moderator: Daniel Star (Boston University)

Sharon Kingsland (Johns Hopkins University)
The Ecosystem Concept: Adapting an Atomic Age Idea to the Modern World

Eileen Crist (Virginia Tech Blacksburg Campus)
The Biosphere as System: Toward a Critical Analysis

Sahotra Sarkar (University of Texas at Austin)
From the Milieu Interior to the Functioning Ecosystem: Concepts of Stability and Equilibrium

Sander Gliboff (University of Indiana)
The Dynamics of Developing Systems in Rre-Darwinian German Biology, from Johann Friedrich Kielmeyer to Heinrich Georg Bronn