University of Canberra. This thesis is available in print format from the University of Canberra Library.

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June Walters
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1 University of Canberra This thesis is available in print format from the University of Canberra Library. If you are the author of this thesis and wish to have the whole thesis loaded here, please contact the University of Canberra Library at Your thesis will then be available on the www providing greater access.

2 CONTEXT AND CHOICE: A NEW APPROACH TO MAKING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE DECISIONS A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Canberra JAN C. SCHOONEVELDT 1 September 2000

3 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The ideas and questions developed in this thesis (but not the conclusions) have been brewing in my mind over the last thirty years as I struggled to come to terms with the intellectual ambiguities, uncertainties and contradictions that I felt all around me. It is impossible, over such a time span, to acknowledge the hundreds of people who have taught, worked with and supported me in one way or another. But I owe a special debt of gratitude to my official and unofficial supervisors: Dr John Harris, A/Professor George Cho and Professor Stephen Boyden. Without their patience, support and encouragement, this thesis would never have been written. I also want to make special mention of the University of Canberra. As one of Australia's newer, more creative and flexible universities, it has allowed me to follow intellectual pathways that are not usually open to doctoral candidates. Acknowledgement is also due to Peter Farrelly who assisted with the layout and diagrams. But above all, I acknowledge the incredible support of my partner, Donna Reid and my children, Emma and Christian. They gave me the freedom to experience the delights of the world of ideas and the opportunity to test them out.

4 SUMMARY This thesis develops a framework for making ecologically sustainable decisions. It is an integrative thesis that draws its data from the fundamental concepts underlying the disciplines of psyschology, linguistics and biology. Its orientation is essentially theoretical, but its application is practical. It is presented in three parts. Part 1 sets out the theoretical context and proposes a basis for understanding decision-making processes in an interactive, evolutionary context. This part focuses particularly on subjective factors that play a role when an organism is in the process of making a decision. Part 1 provides an underpinning for the core of the thesis. Part 2 forms this core. It considers the context in which decisions are made and overviews current decision-making frameworks that aim at ecologically sustainable outcomes. It proposes a process of metabolic mapping of materials and energy flows across integrated socio-political bioregions as a basis for decision-making. : Part 3 considers the implications of the approach in terms of its utility, reliability and validity. This part also looks at the role of ethics in decision-making and outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the new approach. The principle rinding is that research and decision-making are fundamentally distinct, often confused concepts. An integrative approach to decision-making is required to counter the increasing fragmentation in research and professional and administrative specialisation. A research tool that bridges the plethora of theoretical orientations is proposed. This involves the use of a semantic metalanguage to capture meaning in a rigorous and verifiable way. Such a metalanguage gives us a means of understanding the subjective experience of organisms, and in particular, their subjective perception of reality which guides their decision-making. A second finding is that, unlike research, which necessarily involves a process of context reduction, sound decision-making necessarily involves a process of context augmentation. And finally it proposes a method of metabolic mapping on a bioregional basis operating under the principle of subsidiarity as the most appropriate route towards sustainable decision-making.

5 Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS '. 11 INTRODUCTION 12 I 1. OVERVIEW THE PROBLEM FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY ASSUMPTIONS MEANING DEVELOPMENT OF THE APPROACH DANGERS AND LIMITATIONS PRESENTATION OF THE THESIS.: OPTIMISTIC Vs PESSIMISTIC VIEWS 24 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES OVERVIEW MEINONG'S THEORY OF OBJECTS UNIVERSAL MEANING SCIENTIFIC PARADIGMS The mechanistic paradigm The systemic paradigm The evolutionary paradigm The social constructivist paradigm THE NATURE OF SCIENCE SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE REALITY Two realities Subjective experience is embedded in objective reality Objective reality as a subset of subjective experience Subjective experience and objective reality overlap Two ways of experiencing the same reality INTROSPECTION AND INTER-SUBJECTIVITY OTHER APPROACHES 55

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.9 BIOHlSTORY WHY USE A BIOHISTORICAL FRAMEWORK? Explanations Explanations and the domains of knowledge Ecological adjustment An environmental ethic Problems with the biohistorical approach SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY DISTANCE AND TIME SUMMARY 71 CHAPTER 2: MOTILITY AND CHOICE OVERVIEW 72 I 2.2. MOTILITY GENUINE CHOICE PERCEPTION 2.5. INDICATORS OF REALITY ACTIVATION LEVEL LEARNING AND MEMORY Biological memory Biological learning LEARNING AND CHOICE STAGES IN EVOLUTION WHAT ABOUT PLANTS? SUMMARY 91 : 76 CHAPTER 3: REALITY SPACES OVERVIEW PLACE AND SPACE IN THE BEGINNING MOTILITY AND ENVIRONMENT SUBJECTIVE REALITY 102

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3.6. BIRD TERRITORIES CONCLUSION i 112 CHAPTER 4: IMAGINATION AND CONSCIOUNESS INTRODUCTION PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL STEREOTYPES INTERNALISED PERCEPTION CAN ANIMALS IMAGINE? Inferences from Animal studies The Development of Imagination in Children THE MEANING OF "THIS" CONSCIOUSNESS ' WHAT IS CULTURE? CULTURE AND DECISION-MAKING MEMES THE PLACE OF LANGUAGE SUMMARY. 138 INTRODUCTION TO PART CHAPTER 5: HUMAN DECISION-MAKING OVERVIEW : RESEARCH AND DECISION-MAKING APPROACHES COMPARED MECHANISTIC DECISION - MAKING SYSTEMIC DECISION-MAKING Open versus Closed Systems Feedback loops Self organising systems Relevance to decision-making EVOLUTIONARY DECISION-MAKING 153

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5.6. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST DECISION-MAKING TYPES OF THINKING AND DECISION-MAKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Markets and Values Measuring Entrepreneurial Behaviour GOVERNANCE Entrepreneurial government Subsidiarity The Slowness of Governance Type Decision-making 168 CHAPTER 6: ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE DECISION-MAKING APPROACHES OVERVIEW HUMAN ECOLOGY i CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE DECI- SION-MAKING ' Criterion Criterion Criterion Criterion THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AND RISK ASSESSMENT ECO-EFFICIENCY PRESSURE-STATE-RESPONSE (PSR) MODELS THE FOOTPRINT MODEL THE NATURAL STEP (TNS) METABOLIC APPROACHES 192 CHAPTER 7: THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK OVERVIEW ' GROUPS SOCIAL INTERACTION IN NATURAL GROUPS ARTIFICIAL GROUPS ENTREPRENEURIAL GROUPS.; THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS 205

9 TABLE OF CONTENTS GOVERNANCE AND BUREAUCRATIC POWER SELFISHNESS AND ALTRUISM THE SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE BIOLOGICAL AND BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS BIO-CULTURAL REGIONS METABOLIC MAPPING 219 INTRODUCTION TO PART CHAPTER 8: JUSTIFICATION: RELIABILITY AND UTILITY OVERVIEW EPISTEMIC PERMISSIBILITY ONTOLOGY PARADIGMS A NEW OVERARCHING PARADIGM VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY ; Reliability in the biophysical sciences Reliability of semantic metalanguage in positivist frameworks Reliability of semantic metalanguage in social constructivist frameworks The reliability of entrepreneurial and governance decision-making UTILITY 238 CHAPTER 9: VALIDITY OVERVIEW CRITERIA FOR A DECISION-MAKING THEORY MEINONG WHlTEHEAD VALIDITY Common sense usage ; Technical uses Systemic validity Validity in decision-making ; 248

10 TABLE OF CONTENTS 9.6 TIME IMPLICATIONS OF AN EVENTS-BASED TIME EXPECTATIONS AND OPPORTUNITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GOVERNANCE 257 CHAPTER 10: OVERVIEW: LIMITATIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND ETHICS OVERVIEW METHOD SCIENTIFIC "LANGUAGES" OR PARADIGMS BIOHISTORY VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY PROCESSES OF BOUNDARY SETTING TYPES OF DECISION-MAKING SIGNIFICANCE AND LIMITATIONS Balancing entrepreneurial and governance decision-making Use of a semantic metalanguages ETHICS ' The genetic fallacy The naturalistic fallacy GETTING AROUND THE NATURALISTIC FALLACY 277 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 281 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Interactive Approach 39 Figure 1.2.Categorization of the Four Main Scientific Paradigms 41 Figure 1.3. Exponential Growth in Fragmented Knowledge 42 Figure 1.4. Two Separate Realities 45 Figure 1.5. Subjective Experience Embedded in Objective Reality 46 Figure 1.6. Objective Reality as a Subject of Subjective Experience 47 Figure 1.7. Subjective Experience and Objective Reality Overlap 48

11 TABLE OF CONTENTS 10 Figure 1.8. Two Ways of Experiencing the Same Reality 49 Figure 1.9. Two Views of Reality: A, as Experienced from Within and B, as Imagined from Outside 50 Figure Wilson's Four Areas of Knowledge 62 Figure Proposed Classification of Human Knowledge 63 Figure The Relationship Between Distance and Time 68 Figure 2.1. Schematic Version of the "Boyden Box" 78 Figure 2.2. Relationship Between Metabolic Rate and Body Weight 82 Figure 3.1. Retinal Patterns for Observers moving towards Objects and Objects i moving towards Observers 105 Figure 3.2. Retinal Patterns of Events 106 Figure 5.1. System Feedback Actions: positive, negative, stable and unstable Figure 6.1. Diagrammatic Representation of the PSR Model 182 Figure 6.2. The "Amoeba" Model 185 Figure 8.1. The Potential Utility of a semantic metalanguage in (1) introducing meaning into the biophysical sciences and (2) anchoring the social sciences Figure 9.1. Relative Occurrence of Events 251 Figure Semanitic Analysisnas Inputs to the Main Sientific Paradigms 264 Figure Relationship between the Four Paradigms and Their Philosophical and Methodological Implications 265

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