“Leave only Footprints? Re-framing Climate Change, Environmental Stewardship, and Human Impact.” Ethics, Policy & Environment 20.1 (2017): 84-102.
Cheryl Hall has argued that framing of climate change must acknowledge the sacrifices needed to reach a sustainable future. This paper argues that current frames about the environment falsely portray humans and the environment as in a zero-sum game, and in doing so ask people to give up the wrong things (namely, their humanity and sense of self). I propose we need alternative framing that portrays humans as a keystone species, and highlights positive human activity. full text of Leave only Footprints?
“Reichenbach Falls—And Rises? Reconstructing the Discovery/Justification Distinction.” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 31.2 (2017): 151-176.
Exploring Hans Reichenbach’s distinction between the “context of discovery” and the “context of justification,” and building on the work of Paul Hoyningen-Huene, reveals that the phrase does not have a single, easily understood meaning. Along the way, I revisit Reichenbach’s version of ‘rational reconstruction’ and highlight its usefulness as a tool for philosophy in general. full text of Reichenbach Falls
“Rethinking “Greening of Hate”: Climate Emissions, Immigration, and the Last Frontier.” Ethics & the Environment 17.2 (2012): 51-74.
Blaming immigrants for environmental issues in the U.S. – what Betsy Hartmann calls the “greening of hate” – is unjustified. Arguments against immigration to the U.S. are not justified on environmental grounds, given current patterns of climate emission and prevailing justice consideration. Climate matters; how we treat each other matters, too. full text of GofH
“Climate change and structural emissions: moral obligations at the individual level.” International Journal of Applied Philosophy 25.2 (2011): 201-213.
full text of CC & SE Given the large-scale, collective nature of climate change, what moral obligations do individuals have to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions? I suggest that obligations at the personal scale are limited. Instead, individuals have obligations to change mid- and large-scale infrastructures.
“The context distinction: controversies over feminist philosophy of science.” European Journal for Philosophy of Science 1.3 (2011): 373.
Some object to feminist approaches to philosophy of science, claiming that such approaches violate the distinction between the context of discovery and the context of justification. I show how this objection is more serious than is often acknowledged within feminist circles. Ultimately, however, I demonstrate how it rests on an ambiguous interpretation of the context distinction. full text of context distinction in feminist philosophy of science
Values in science: the distinction between the context of discovery and the context of justification. University of Washington, 2010.
Karl Popper famously distinguished between ‘how an idea occurs to a man’ and ‘whether the idea is justified.’ My dissertation examines the different and sometimes contradictory uses of the context distinction, exploring its use in work by philosophers such as Hans Reichenbach, Thomas Kuhn, Lynn Hankinson Nelson, and Paul Hoyningen-Huene. full text of Values in science