The Price of Precaution and the Ethics of Risk

The Price of Precaution and the Ethics of Risk PDF

Author: Christian Munthe

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-05-19

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9400713304

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Christian Munthe undertakes an innovative, in-depth philosophical analysis of what the idea of a precautionary principle is and should be about. A novel theory of the ethics of imposing risks is developed and used as a foundation for defending the idea of precaution in environmental and technological policy making against its critics, while at the same time avoiding a number of identified flaws. The theory is shown to have far-reaching practical conclusions for areas such as bio-, information- and nuclear technology, and global environmental policy in areas such as climate change. The author argues that, while the price we pay for precaution must not be too high, we have to be prepared to pay it in order to act ethically defensible. A number of practical suggestions for precautionary regulation and policy making are made on the basis of this, and some challenges to basic ethical theory as well as consumerist societies, the global political order and liberal democracy are identified. Munthe’s book is a well-argued contribution to the PP debate, putting neglected justificatory and methodological questions at the forefront. His many discussions of alternative accounts as well as his drawing out the consequences of his own suggestion in practical cases give the reader a thorough, holistic sense of what justification of PP amounts to. /..../ Munthe’s main case, his argumentation for the requirement of precaution as a moral norm, is convincing and puts a strong pressure on too narrow alternative suggestions on how it should be perceived and justified, and he launches a plausible defence of its practical usability.

The Ethics of Precaution

The Ethics of Precaution PDF

Author: Levente Szentkirályi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-22

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0429534523

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There are thousands of substances manufactured in the United States to which the public is routinely exposed and for which toxicity data are limited or absent. Some insist that uncertainty about the severity of potential harm justifies implementing precautionary regulations, while others claim that uncertainty justifies the absence of regulations until sufficient evidence confirms a strong probability of severe harm. In this book, Levente Szentkirályi overcomes this impasse in his defense of precautionary environmental risk regulation by shifting the focus from how to manage uncertainty to what it is we owe each other morally. He argues that actions that create uncertain threats wrongfully gamble with the welfare of those who are exposed and neglect the reciprocity that our equal moral standing demands. If we take the moral equality and rights of others seriously, we have a duty to exercise due care to strive to prevent putting them in possible harm’s way. The Ethics of Precaution will be of great interest to researchers, educators, advanced students, and practitioners working in the fields of environmental political theory, ethics of risk, and environmental policy.

The Reality of Precaution

The Reality of Precaution PDF

Author: Jonathan Baert Wiener

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 602

ISBN-13: 1933115866

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First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Ethics of Precaution

The Ethics of Precaution PDF

Author: Levente Szentkirályi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-22

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 0429521057

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There are thousands of substances manufactured in the United States to which the public is routinely exposed and for which toxicity data are limited or absent. Some insist that uncertainty about the severity of potential harm justifies implementing precautionary regulations, while others claim that uncertainty justifies the absence of regulations until sufficient evidence confirms a strong probability of severe harm. In this book, Levente Szentkirályi overcomes this impasse in his defense of precautionary environmental risk regulation by shifting the focus from how to manage uncertainty to what it is we owe each other morally. He argues that actions that create uncertain threats wrongfully gamble with the welfare of those who are exposed and neglect the reciprocity that our equal moral standing demands. If we take the moral equality and rights of others seriously, we have a duty to exercise due care to strive to prevent putting them in possible harm’s way. The Ethics of Precaution will be of great interest to researchers, educators, advanced students, and practitioners working in the fields of environmental political theory, ethics of risk, and environmental policy.

Handbook of Risk Theory

Handbook of Risk Theory PDF

Author: Sabine Roeser

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 1209

ISBN-13: 9400714327

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Risk has become one of the main topics in fields as diverse as engineering, medicine and economics, and it is also studied by social scientists, psychologists and legal scholars. But the topic of risk also leads to more fundamental questions such as: What is risk? What can decision theory contribute to the analysis of risk? What does the human perception of risk mean for society? How should we judge whether a risk is morally acceptable or not? Over the last couple of decades questions like these have attracted interest from philosophers and other scholars into risk theory. This handbook provides for an overview into key topics in a major new field of research. It addresses a wide range of topics, ranging from decision theory, risk perception to ethics and social implications of risk, and it also addresses specific case studies. It aims to promote communication and information among all those who are interested in theoetical issues concerning risk and uncertainty. This handbook brings together internationally leading philosophers and scholars from other disciplines who work on risk theory. The contributions are accessibly written and highly relevant to issues that are studied by risk scholars. We hope that the Handbook of Risk Theory will be a helpful starting point for all risk scholars who are interested in broadening and deepening their current perspectives.

Ethics and Drug Resistance: Collective Responsibility for Global Public Health

Ethics and Drug Resistance: Collective Responsibility for Global Public Health PDF

Author: Euzebiusz Jamrozik

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-10-26

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 3030278743

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This Open Access volume provides in-depth analysis of the wide range of ethical issues associated with drug-resistant infectious diseases. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is widely recognized to be one of the greatest threats to global public health in coming decades; and it has thus become a major topic of discussion among leading bioethicists and scholars from related disciplines including economics, epidemiology, law, and political theory. Topics covered in this volume include responsible use of antimicrobials; control of multi-resistant hospital-acquired infections; privacy and data collection; antibiotic use in childhood and at the end of life; agricultural and veterinary sources of resistance; resistant HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria; mandatory treatment; and trade-offs between current and future generations. As the first book focused on ethical issues associated with drug resistance, it makes a timely contribution to debates regarding practice and policy that are of crucial importance to global public health in the 21st century.

A Climate of Risk

A Climate of Risk PDF

Author: Lauren Hartzell-Nichols

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2017-04-07

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1315309327

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Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- Acknowledgements -- Credits -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. How Climate Change is Harmful -- 1 Climate Change Risks, Reasons for Concern, and the Complexity of Harmfulness -- 2 Risk, Uncertainty, and the Complexity of Climate Change's Harmful Effects -- 3 Harmfulness Across Generations -- 4 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 2. Making Sense of Precaution -- 1 The Myth of "the" Precautionary Principle -- 2 Against the Possibility of Unifying the Precautionary Principle -- 3 A Way Forward - Rethinking Precaution and Precautionary Principles -- 4 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 3. A Precautionary Approach to Threats of Catastrophes -- 1 The Catastrophic Precautionary Principle -- 2 The Catastrophic Precautionary Decision-Making Framework -- 3 The Distinctiveness of My View -- 4 The Threat of Climate Catastrophe -- 5 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 4. Precaution and the Economics of Climate Change -- 1 Uncertainty's Uncertain Effect on Economic Assessments of Climate Change -- 2 Uncertainty and the Economics of Climate Change in Practice -- 3 Uncertainty as an Argument Against Discounting in Climate Economics -- 4 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 5. Responding to the Threat of Climate Catastrophe -- 1 Precautionary Climate Policy -- 2 A Precautionary Approach to Mitigation - Against the 1.5/2°C Target -- 3 A Precautionary Approach to Adaptation -- 4 Geoengineering as Precaution? -- 5 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Appendix -- Index

Precautionary Reasoning in Environmental and Public Health Policy

Precautionary Reasoning in Environmental and Public Health Policy PDF

Author: David B. Resnik

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-03-27

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 3030707911

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This book fills a gap in the literature on the Precautionary Principle by placing the principle within the wider context of precautionary reasoning and uses philosophical arguments and case studies to demonstrate when it does—and does not—apply. The book invites the reader to take a step back from the controversy surrounding the Precautionary Principle and consider the overarching rationales for responding to threats to the environment or public health. It provides practical guidance and probing insight for the intended audience, including scholars, students, journalists, and policymakers.

Risks and Regulation of New Technologies

Risks and Regulation of New Technologies PDF

Author: Tsuyoshi Matsuda

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-01

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 9811586896

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How should we proceed with advanced research of humanities and social sciences in collaboration? What are the pressing issues of this new trend in a cataclysmic time for civilization? This book, originated with a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Topic-Setting Program, addresses these challenging questions in four parts for innovating twenty-first-century humanities and social sciences. It broadens the horizon for reviewing multi-disciplinary landscapes of risks and regulation of new technologies by focusing on paradigmatic cases from the fields of life and environment. Here, genome editing for reproductive treatment and renewable energy under the constraint of climate change in Japanese and global contexts are involved. The volume comprises a combination of topics and aspects such as public policy and philosophy of science, medicine and law, climate ethics, and the economics of electricity. This edited collection will thus motivate forward-thinking readers across the diverse spectrum of social sciences and humanities to survey themes of their own interests in multi-disciplinary studies. In so doing, they can explore the evolving frontiers of those disciplines and the depths of individual contributions by experts in philosophy, ethics, law, economics, and science, technology, and society (STS), including bioscience.

Ethics and Epidemiology

Ethics and Epidemiology PDF

Author: Steven S. Coughlin

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0197587054

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"This chapter considers the history of the rise of ethical concerns in the public health movement and epidemiology, which is the study of the distribution and determinants of disease in human populations. Epidemiology is a basic science in public health. This chapter provides an overview of early developments in public health and ethics. More recent developments are also discussed, including the origins of bioethics, regulatory safeguards for human subjects research, public health ethics, and contemporary epidemiologic ethics"--