Against "Possibilist" Interpretations of Climate Models
- authored by
- Corey Dethier
- Abstract
Climate scientists frequently employ heavily idealized models. How should these models be interpreted? Some philosophers have advanced a possibilist interpretation: climate models stand in for possible scenarios that could occur but do not provide information about how probable those scenarios are. This article argues that possibilism is (1) undermotivated, (2) incompatible with successful practices in the science, and (3) unable to correct for known biases. The upshot is that the models should be interpreted probabilistically in at least some cases.
- Organisation(s)
-
Institute of Philosophy
- Type
- Article
- Journal
- Philosophy of science
- Volume
- 90
- Pages
- 1417-1426
- No. of pages
- 10
- ISSN
- 0031-8248
- Publication date
- 12.2023
- Publication status
- Published
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History, Philosophy, History and Philosophy of Science
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 13 - Climate Action
- Electronic version(s)
-
https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2023.6 (Access:
Open)
