Category Archives: advocacy

Extreme weather event attribution

Posted on June 11, 2019 by

This is a joint post between myself and Eric Winsberg, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida. Eric has just published, together with Naomi Oreskes and Elisabeth Lloyd, a paper called Severe Weather Event Attribution: Why values won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Research, Science, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , , | 182 Comments

Estragon and the Expert

Posted on June 6, 2019 by

An abstract stakeholder’s dialog. Vladimir, or V, is the expert. Estragon is E. [V] You have cancer.[E] OK.[V] …[E] Is it curable?[V] Yes, I guess.[E] …[V] …[E] How?[V] There’s A or B.[E] What would you suggest.[V] If you do A … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, ClimateBall, Politics, Roger Pielke Jr | Tagged , , | 110 Comments

The Honest Broker

Posted on March 8, 2019 by

In discussions about science and policy, it is quite common for people to refer to The Honest Broker, a book by Roger Pielke Jr. I realise that it is now a little old, but I’ve only just had the chance … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, ClimateBall, Roger Pielke Jr, Scientists, Sound Science (tm) | Tagged , , , , , , | 172 Comments

Guest essay: The Missing Key

Posted on January 19, 2019 by

This is a guest essay from Peter Miesler, who writes the blog Citizen’s Challenge. The Missing Key to Stephen Gould’s “Nonoverlapping Magisteria” “… missing was a much more fundamental division crying out for recognition. Specifically, the magisteria of Physical Reality … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Global warming, Personal, Science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments

We have 12 years

Posted on January 9, 2019 by

Patrick Brown has a recent blog post about whether, or not, the IPCC claims that we have 12 years to avoid catastrophic global warming. As his post highlights, there are a number of problems with this claim. Firstly, the IPCC … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy, Scientists, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , , , , , | 31 Comments

What bothers, and confuses, me about climate change

Posted on January 6, 2019 by

Since this blog is mainly a place for me to express my views, I thought I would try explain something that bothers, and confuses, me about the whole climate change issue. Maybe others feel the same as I do, maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Carbon tax, Climate change, Environmental change, Personal, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy | Tagged , , , , | 278 Comments

Ceci n’est pas un Sokal

Posted on October 9, 2018 by

Yet another hit piece by Freedom Fighters against “ideologically-motivated scholarship, radical skepticism and cultural constructivism.” Yascha Mounk called it Sokal Squared. On closer inspection, there’s no Sokal there. Inspired by Michael Lukas I contend it’s more of a Veritas scam. The Sokal epithet refers to perhaps the … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, ethics, Philosophy for Bloggers, Politics, Research | Tagged , , | 85 Comments