ABSTRACT
In environmental studies, we are often concerned with a particular type of knowledge, what is called scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is systematic, evidence-based knowledge about the physical and natural world that is based on established physical principles. In the social sciences, it is equally true that all knowledge should be considered contingent, but for slightly different reasons. The nature of knowledge is still about what we believe to be true. Much social science research defines knowledge differently than do the natural sciences. Knowledge is based not just on physical facts and phenomena but also often on people’s perceptions and beliefs about these things. The ancient Greeks changed all that by starting to think about how to explain natural phenomena without relying on supernatural forces. Knowledge production stagnated through most of the Middle Ages in Europe, in part because the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers were largely absent for most of this period.
