Ecology

Ecology is concerned with the study of organisms. It looks at the various aspects of an ecosystem. Interactions between organisms in an ecosystem are of much essence (Bernstein, 2001). It is believed each organism has some sort of importance in an ecosystem. In order to understand ecology better, various views have been put forward. Some are philosophical while others are religious (Pierce, 2003). Evolutionary views are also considered in explaining ecology. All these views have some points of confluence as well as disparities.

Traditional religious view

These recognize that man is part of the ecology. It perceives man as being in charge of all other organisms. Evolutionary ecological view on the other hand is based mainly on behavior. Organisms are believed to change their behavior to suit themselves to the changing environment (Pierce, 2003). For example, birds have evolved to flight as an adaptation to avoid predation. Religious views differ in that they do not recognize evolution (Bernstein, 2001). They believe that organisms were created the way they are. Judeo-Christian tradition believes in superiority of man over other organisms (Pierce, 2003). However, other religious views such as that of Saint Francis of Assisi believe in equality in ecosystems (Pierce, 2003). An intersection between these two views exists in that they recognize the importance of ecology.

Philosophical views

A good example of this is the philosophical view. A core principle in this view is interdependence (Pierce, 2003). It recognizes the importance of each organism in the ecosystem. It hypothesizes that each organism whether human or any other has a right in the ecosystem (Pierce, 2003). It has some similarity to the evolutionary view (Pierce, 2003). This is mainly in the interdependence between organisms (Bernstein, 2001). Predation, symbiosis and parasitism are some of the relations put forward in both views. However, a stark difference exists between the two. Philosophical views are mainly based on a human beings perspective (Bernstein, 2001). They try to explain impacts of man on ecosystems. On the other hand, evolution tries to understand the adaptations of organism to the changing environment (Pierce, 2003). It does not lay much emphasis on human beings as part of the evolving organisms (Bernstein, 2001).