Ricardo Simmonds

Truth and Climate Change: Pragmatist Truth Confronted by Habermas and Ratzinger in the Context of Climate Change Ricardo Simmonds

What is climate change? Is it happening? What are the consequences to humans and the natural world? Ultimately these and many other questions beg the question: what is the truth about climate change? 'Truth and climate change' is a philosophical dissertation that examines the concept of truth as it emerges in the context of climate change. It begins with a historical analysis of climate change development in our modern times, leading to the current definition of concepts. While a definition of climate change is complex involving aspects of both Nature and Culture, the meaning of ?truth? in philosophy has been intensely debated throughout history to our present times. The second more technical part of the dissertation focuses on a specific pragmatist approach to climate change: the policy sciences. Through the philosophy of Habermas and Ratzinger this pragmatist conception of truth is challenged and a renewed approach to finding the truth on climate change is proposed.