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101987-FS2024-0-Seminar: Philosophical Issues in Modeling Climate Change





Root number 101987
Semester FS2024
Type of course Seminar
Allocation to subject Geography
Type of exam not defined
Title Seminar: Philosophical Issues in Modeling Climate Change
Description Climate change constitutes one of the biggest challenges of our time. This challenge finds its roots not only in the complexity of the climate system, but also in the pragmatic and normative questions raised by climate change. This seminar investigates some of the main epistemological, methodological and ethical issues linked to climate modeling in view of tackling the climate challenge.


In this seminar, topics such as the following are discussed:
- What are climate models? What are their purposes and potential pitfalls?
- How to deal with uncertainties in climate change projections? What is the meaning of probabilities in this context?
- What are the consequences of model uncertainties for climate impact assessment and policy-making?
- What role do non-epistemic values play in climate modeling?
- Can we attribute extreme weather events to climate change?
- What are the ethical issues raised by climate change?

For each meeting, every participant answers a couple of questions about one of the papers scheduled for discussion (no questions to answer for the first session, but a required reading). Answers have to be sent to the lecturers before the seminar takes place and provide a basis for the discussion.
Seminar discussions are chaired jointly by lecturers from philosophy, geography and climate physics. Interest in interdisciplinary reading and discussion is a prerequisite.
Requirements for the credits: for every session, read the papers, answer the questions and participate to the discussion.
ILIAS-Link (Learning resource for course) Registrations are transmitted from CTS to ILIAS (no admission in ILIAS possible). ILIAS
Link to another web site
Lecturers Prof. Dr. Stefan Brönnimann, Institute of Geography ✉
Prof. Dr. Vincent Minh Duc Lam, Institute of Philosophy ✉
Dr. Ralf Hand, Institute of Geography ✉
ECTS 2
Recognition as optional course possible Yes
Grading 1 to 6
 
Dates Friday 14:15-16:00 Weekly
 
Rooms Seminarraum 324, Mittelstrasse 43
 
Students please consult the detailed view for complete information on dates, rooms and planned podcasts.