Is There a Need for a New, an Environmental Metaphysic

By considering the ontological implications of contemporary scientific theories, I will argue for an ontology of relations. Relationality so construed, will underpin a dynamic, process metaphysic. Taken together, this will yield a scientifically motivated metaphysic with relationality as the ontological foundation. This new ontology will be applicable to many problems that have been discussed in environmental philosophy. In showing that environmental philosophy benefits from this new ontology of relations, I will take a position against static, substantival ontologies insofar as they are applied to environmental philosophy. I will consider arguments from structural realism and systems biology, and apply them to contemporary problems in environmental philosophy. Furthermore, I will propose the constraint of naturalism on environmental metaphysics. This species of methodological naturalism has come to be called naturalized metaphysics in the literature. It holds that metaphysics should be conducted in accord with scientific theories. Hence, I will articulate a methodological constraint that is informed by contemporary science, to solve ongoing metaphysical issues in environmental philosophy.