The Climate Change Debate An Epistemic and Ethical Enquiry

Two kinds of philosophical questions are raised by the current public debate about climate change; epistemic questions (Whom should I believe? Is climate science a genuine science?), and ethical questions (Who should bear the burden? Must I sacrifice if others do not?). Although the former have been central to this debate, professional philosophers have dealt almost exclusively with the latter. This book is the first to address both the epistemic and ethical questions raised by the climate change debate and examine the relationship between them.

David Coady is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He has published on many topics in applied epistemology, including expertise, conspiracy theory, rumor, and the blogosphere. He is the editor of Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate (2006), and the author of What To Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues (2012). He has also published on metaphysics, philosophy of law, police ethics, the ethics of horror films, and the ethics of cricket.

Richard Corry is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He has published in the metaphysics of science and is editor, with Huw Price, of Causation, Physics, and the Constitution of Reality (2007).

List of Figures
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Skepticism and Climate Change Skepticism
3. Experts in the Climate Change Debate
4. Climate Science as a Social Institution
5. Is Climate Science Really Science?
6. Climate Change and International Justice
7. Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice
8. Climate Change and Personal Responsibility
9. Conclusion
References