In response to Al Gore’s attempt to enlist his help in discrediting skeptics of global warming alarmism by making a big deal of alleged or actual funding they had received from corporations, Ted Koppel responded: “Is this a case of industry supporting scientists who happen to hold sympathetic views, or scientists adapting their views to accommodate industry?” Koppel continued chastisingly:
There is some irony in the fact that Vice President Gore – one of the most scientifically literate men to sit in the White House in this century – [is] resorting to political means to achieve what should ultimately be resolved on a purely scientific basis. The measure of good science is neither the politics of the scientist nor the people with whom the scientist associates. It is the immersion of hypotheses into the acid of truth. That’s the hard way to do it, but it’s the only way that works. (Nightline, “Is Environmental Science for Sale?” February 24, 1994)
Global warming alarmists often try to discredit skeptics by alluding to their alleged or actual source of funding (however large or small, it doesn’t matter to the alarmists) as if this invalidates their claims. This underhanded tactic is a perfect example of the logical fallacy ad hominem and amounts to a personal attack on the victim’s integrity. One could just as easily, if not more so, make the same accusation against government funded scientists but this would be just as unsatisfactory an argument against the substance of their claims. For more on conduct unbecoming of a scientist, see my blogpost on scientific skepticism.
A few personal notes on this issue: The quickest way to get me to dismiss you as an ideologue and alarmist is to raise the issue of funding in an effort to discredit the substantive claims of a particular scientist or group of scientists. This is not a valid argument and serves only to reveal your biases. I find it especially disturbing when self-described libertarians do this. Any good libertarian ought to be critical of corporate “capitalism” but it shows a remarkable lack of understanding (especially for a libertarian) to be critical of corporate funding while being blasé about government and other special interest funding.
Update (3pm): It is ironic that some alarmists can recognize ad hominem arguments when made against their own but not when they make them against skeptics.
Geoffrey is an Aristotelian-Libertarian political philosopher, writer, editor, and web designer. He is the founder of the