Gabriel Tarziu investigates climate models and climate scientific understanding at the Chair of Philosophy of Science. The project is funded by the ERC under the HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01 call with project number 101067782.
What exactly is the epistemic goal of constructing climate models? Can these models help us in our endeavour to understand Earth’s climate system and our role in climate change? This is a very important question that hasn’t yet received the attention it deserves in the recent philosophy of climate science. My overall research objective in this project is to address this important lacuna. I plan to do this by developing an account of climate scientific understanding and the means by which we can achieve understanding in climate science. The method I will use originates with Carnap and has recently gained a great deal of popularity, i.e. conceptual engineering. I will achieve this objective by combining my previous expertise on the topic of understanding with scientific models and the role of mathematics in scientific understanding with the new skills and competencies gained through advanced training, under the guidance of a highly qualified supervisor, Prof. Stephan Hartmann, a leading expert on scientific models and their role in science. Conducting this project at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (LMU) will considerably improve my research and help me make significant contributions to the current discussion in the philosophy of climate science. This will establish me as an independent research leader in Europe and, therefore, help me secure a permanent academic position. The results of this project can have a wide-ranging impact on the philosophy of science and neighbouring philosophical and scientific disciplines. For instance, it can contribute to a better understanding of the practice of climate science, it can generate a new context for forging interdisciplinary relations between philosophers and climate scientists, and (suitably modified) it can be used in a general strategy to help the general public better understand and trust climate science. The project fits with the 13th goal set out in the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.