Philosophy and the Precautionary Principle: Science, Evidence, and Environmental Policy by Steel, Daniel (2014) Hardcover

by Daniel Steel

Scholars in philosophy, law, economics and other fields have widely debated how science, environmental precaution, and economic interests should be balanced in urgent contemporary problems, such as climate change. One controversial focus of these discussions is the precautionary principle, according to which scientific uncertainty should not be a reason for delay in the face of serious threats to the environment or health. While the precautionary principle has been very influential, no generally accepted definition of it exists and critics charge that it is incoherent or hopelessly vague. This book presents and defends an interpretation of the precautionary principle from the perspective of philosophy of science, looking particularly at how it connects to decisions, scientific procedures, and evidence. Through careful analysis of numerous case studies, it shows how this interpretation leads to important insights on scientific uncertainty, intergenerational justice, and the relationship between values and policy-relevant science.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

About the author

Dr. Steel earned his PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh in 2002, and is affiliated with the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. His area of research expertise is in the philosophy of science, with particular emphases on causation, confirmation, and implications of these for practical decisions of public policy. He has a strong record of publications in these areas, with over thirty articles, a monograph, and a co-edited reader on the philosophy of social science. His work has appeared in leading journals in the field such as Philosophy of Science, British Journal of Philosophy of Science, Biology and Philosophy, and Philosophy of the Social Sciences. He is the author of, Across the Boundaries: Extrapolation in Biology and Social Science (Oxford University Press 2008). He is also the co-editor, with Francesco Guala, of, The Philosophy of Social Science Reader (Routledge 2011). Dr. Steel's current research focuses on the interaction between values, evidence and decision making in contested environmental issues, such as toxic chemicals regulation and climate change. Some of this work has already been published in a number of articles and more is set to appear in book form in, Phiosophy and the Precautionary Principle: Science, Evidence, and Environmental Policy (under contract with Cambridge University Press).

Reviews

[Lilian Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

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