Bay Area Philosophy of Science Announcement
Philip Kitcher
Fleishhacker Lecture
Tuesday, 3/18/14 6 PM
Xavier Auditorium, Fromm Hall
University of San Francisco
CLIMATE CHANGE – THE HARD PROBLEM
The easy problem of climate change is that of determining the reality of anthropogenic global warming. That problem has been made hard by deficiencies in our democracy. After a brief exploration of these claims, I’ll turn to the hard problem, that of ascertaining the extent of the threat to future human well-being and formulating a policy for addressing it. I’ll argue that we are forced to proceed in a context in which much of what we would like to know is beyond our epistemic reach, and that successful policies for responding to climate change require an extension of democracy in a global framework. Given the existing problems with what we think of as democracy today, any such extension looks unlikely.
Directions to USF
Public transit: take BART to Powell street and catch the 5 Fulton bus on Market Street near the Cable Car turnaround. Exit the bus at Parker. Fromm Hall is the building at the corner of Parker and Golden Gate, but the entrance is facing south, half way down Parker from Fulton. It is called Xavier on the map.
Driving: take the Central Freeway 101 North towards Octavia & the Golden Gate Bridge. Stay to the left and take Octavia to the end, turn left on Fell Street. After a few miles, when you get to the panhandle of Golden Gate Park, look for Shrader and turn right. At Fulton, Shrader jogs to the right and becomes Parker. Fromm Hall is the building at the corner of Parker and Golden Gate, but the entrance is facing south, half way down Parker from Fulton. It is called Xavier on the map. Parking will be difficult so give yourself enough time. It is possible to get an expensive parking permit at the Kiosk on Golden Gate Avenue.