Risk ─ Philosophical Perspectives

How can we determine an acceptable level of risk? Should these decisions be made by experts, or by the people they affect? How should safety and security be balanced against other goods, such as liberty?

This is the first collection to examine the philosophical dimensions of these pressing practical problems. Leading scholars exploring the full range of philosophical implications of risk, including:

risk and ethics
risk and rationality
risk and scientific expertise
risk and lay knowledge
the objectivity of risk assessment
risk and the precautionary principle
risk and terror.
With contributions from Carl F. Cranor, Sven Ove Hansson, Martin Kusch, Tim Lewens, D.H. Mellor, Adam Morton, Stephen Perry, Martin Peterson, Alan Ryan, Per Sandin, Cass R. Sunstein and Jonathan Wolff; this collection is essential reading, not only for philosophers and researchers in legal, economic and environmental studies, but for those seeking to gain a better understanding of the decisions we must make as concerned citizens.

Tim Lewens is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Organisms and Artifacts (2004) and Darwin (Routledge, 2006).

Introduction: Risk and Philosophy Tim Lewens 1. Risk and Ethics: Three Approaches Sven Ove Hansson 2. Towards a Non-Consequentialist Approach to Acceptable Risks Carl Cranor 3. What is the Value of Preventing a Fatality? Jonathan Wolff 4. On Multi-Attribute Risk Analysis Martin Peterson 5. Great Expectations Adam Morton 6. Common Sense Precaution and Varieties of the Precautionary Principle Per Sandin 7. Acting Under Risk D.H. Mellor 8. Towards a Political Philosophy of Risk: Experts and Publics in Deliberative Democracy Martin Kusch 9. Moral Heuristics and Risk Cass Sunstein 10. Risk and Terrorism Alan Ryan 11. Risk, Harm, Interests, and Rights Stephen Perry Index