Posted by
Takeadair on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:28:56 PM
JFP writes: Sunday, February 04, 2007 8:18 AM
The case(s) for skepticism whatever the reality of global warming is, the reality of our epistemic situation with respect to global warming is that there's ample reason for skepticism. The "true believers" are asserting four claims, each of which can be challenged:
1. Reality is objective and science can discover the nature of that objective reality.
Lots of humanities professors -- and these are LEFTIST professors -- have denied this. It started with Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn argued that scientific theories are always replaced by quite different theories, and that scientific facts are based on observation, which is always "theory-laden." That is, observers see what their theories tell them to see. Result? Science is unreliable.
2. Science has determined that global warming is happening.
In spite of all the claims about how every scientist believes in it and that there are no peer-reviewed articles to the contrary, one can still be skeptical. Science, IN THE LONG RUN, will get things right, but that doesn't mean it can't screw up in the short run. We are talking about some very complicated science here, and the fact that everyone is saying something makes me think that the process has been politicized. There's no counter-evidence, you say? I'd be more inclined to believe in global warming if there was less consensus than if there was more.
3. Science has determined that this warming is caused by humans.
Those ice caps on Mars need to be explained.
4. The only way to solve the problem is to ratify Kyoto and cap greenhouse emissions.
There's plenty of room for skepticism here. One could say that there are better solutions, one could say this solution won't work but others will, one could say that capping greenhouse emissions won't work unless China and India are on board, or one could say that nothing will work at this point.
The true believers imagine that they are standing on rock, whereas the rest of us think they are way out on a very fragile limb.