DISCURSIVE ETHICS IN ECOSYSTEMS VALUATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL-POLICY

Discursive ethics has its origin in the Frankfurt School of critical t heory, As an applied ethic it is also associated with practical philos ophy, In this paper discursive ethics is discussed as a conceptual and practical framework for ecosystems valuation and environmental policy , The discussion focuses on three main strengths of discursive ethics: (1) it offers an integrated process for ecosystems valuation; (2) it offers a decision-making framework for responding to uncertainty and r isk and the reality of action-in-indeterminacy; (3) it offers a proces s for deconstructing common valuation concepts and identifying conditi ons for their critical reconstruction. The theoretical discussion is f ollowed by a case study example which illustrates the usefulness of di scursive ethics in identifying valuation biases hidden behind discipli nary assumptions and conceptual norms, These include cultural norms of rationality, information biases which consider ''hard facts'' over '' soft values'', and disciplinary valuation biases which distinguish bet ween ''hard'' and ''soft'' expert contributions, As the case study ill ustrates, a successful application of discursive ethics in ecosystems valuation and environmental policy demands sensitivity to such underly ing biases. Beyond its policy relevance discursive ethics may also off er a framework for an extended peer discourse through which new foci i n research and education can be identified.