Cultural Theory’s contributions to climate science: reply to Hansson

Verweij, M., Ney, S., & Thompson, M. (2022). Cultural Theory’s contributions to climate science: reply to Hansson. European Journal for Philosophy of Science 12 (2) e34. 10.1007/s13194-022-00464-y.

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Abstract

In his article, ‘Social constructionism and climate science denial’, Hansson claims to present empirical evidence that the cultural theory developed by Dame Mary Douglas, Aaron Wildavsky and ourselves (among others) leads to (climate) science denial. In this reply, we show that there is no validity to these claims. First, we show that Hansson’s empirical evidence that cultural theory has led to climate science denial falls apart under closer inspection. Contrary to Hansson’s claims, cultural theory has made significant contributions to understanding and addressing climate change. Second, we discuss various features of Douglas’ cultural theory that differentiate it from other constructivist approaches and make it compatible with the scientific method. Thus, we also demonstrate that cultural theory cannot be accused of epistemic relativism.

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