Eric Higgs (philosopher)
Encyclopedia
Eric Stowe Higgs is professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria
. Trained in ecology, philosophy, and environmental planning, his work concerns ecological restoration, historical ecology, intervention ecology, and the changing character of life in technological society.
Biography and Training Eric Higgs was born in Brantford, Ontario, to David P.J. Higgs and Barbara Isabel Stowe. His pre-school years were in North Delta, British Columbia (near Vancouver). He attended public school in Thornhill, Ontario (near Toronto), and secondary school (Brantford Collegiate and Pauline Johnston Secondary School) in Brantford. In 1976 he turned away from what had been a strong early passion for physics and engineering, and attend the Integrated Studies Program at the University of Waterloo. The Integrated Studies Program was student-driven and required self-motivation to complete an open curriculum in a subjects of the student's choosing. He completed an undergraduate thesis, "A theory for the interaction of ecology and the social order," that blended history of ecology with social philosophy and environmental ethics. Immediately upon graduation with a Bachelor of Independent Studies (B.I.S.) in 1979, he took up an internship at the Hastings Centre (Institute for the Study of Ethics, Society and the Life Sciences) in Hastings-on-Hudson, where he completed a project on environmental and ecological ethics. He completed a Master's degree in philosophy of science at the University of Western Ontario (1980-81), and at the same time undertook ecological consulting work in Southern Ontario. He returned to the University of Waterloo to a new interdisciplinary doctoral program, in which he combined studies in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Urban and Regional Planning. Working with co-supervisors, Lawrence Haworth, a social and moral philosopher, and Robert Dorney, an ecologist and environmental planner, Higgs completed his dissertation, "Planning, Technology and Community Autonomy," in 1988.
In 2000 he published a volume of essays discussing the work of Albert Borgmann
which was described by Paul Durbin as one of the first volumes that explicitly strives to establish the philosophy of technology as an academic subdiscipline with canonical texts http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v7n1/intro.html.
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
. Trained in ecology, philosophy, and environmental planning, his work concerns ecological restoration, historical ecology, intervention ecology, and the changing character of life in technological society.
Biography and Training Eric Higgs was born in Brantford, Ontario, to David P.J. Higgs and Barbara Isabel Stowe. His pre-school years were in North Delta, British Columbia (near Vancouver). He attended public school in Thornhill, Ontario (near Toronto), and secondary school (Brantford Collegiate and Pauline Johnston Secondary School) in Brantford. In 1976 he turned away from what had been a strong early passion for physics and engineering, and attend the Integrated Studies Program at the University of Waterloo. The Integrated Studies Program was student-driven and required self-motivation to complete an open curriculum in a subjects of the student's choosing. He completed an undergraduate thesis, "A theory for the interaction of ecology and the social order," that blended history of ecology with social philosophy and environmental ethics. Immediately upon graduation with a Bachelor of Independent Studies (B.I.S.) in 1979, he took up an internship at the Hastings Centre (Institute for the Study of Ethics, Society and the Life Sciences) in Hastings-on-Hudson, where he completed a project on environmental and ecological ethics. He completed a Master's degree in philosophy of science at the University of Western Ontario (1980-81), and at the same time undertook ecological consulting work in Southern Ontario. He returned to the University of Waterloo to a new interdisciplinary doctoral program, in which he combined studies in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Urban and Regional Planning. Working with co-supervisors, Lawrence Haworth, a social and moral philosopher, and Robert Dorney, an ecologist and environmental planner, Higgs completed his dissertation, "Planning, Technology and Community Autonomy," in 1988.
In 2000 he published a volume of essays discussing the work of Albert Borgmann
Albert Borgmann
Albert Borgmann is an American philosopher, specializing in the philosophy of technology. He was born in Freiburg, Germany, and is a professor of philosophy at the University of Montana.-Philosophy:...
which was described by Paul Durbin as one of the first volumes that explicitly strives to establish the philosophy of technology as an academic subdiscipline with canonical texts http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v7n1/intro.html.
Books
- Higgs, Eric et al., Technology and the Good Life University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN 0-226-33387-6. A collection of essays discussing the work of Albert BorgmannAlbert BorgmannAlbert Borgmann is an American philosopher, specializing in the philosophy of technology. He was born in Freiburg, Germany, and is a professor of philosophy at the University of Montana.-Philosophy:...
.
- Higgs, Eric. Nature by Design: Human Agency, Natural Process and Ecological Restoration. 2003. ISBN 0-262-58226-0
- Eric Higgs, Dean Apostol, and Marcia Sinclair, Restoring the Pacific Northwest: The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Cascadia by (Island Press - Jun 2006)
External links
- Eric Higgs homepage
- Brief biography
- Revealing Pictures and Reflexive Frames 2004
- Borgmann, Technology and the Good Life? and the Empirical Turn for Philosophy of Technology by Hans AchterhuisHans AchterhuisHerman Johan "Hans" Achterhuis is Professor Emeritus in Systematic Philosophy at the University of Twente, The Netherlands and one of the country's foremost philosophers...
- Review of Technology and the Good Life by Brian Richardson