Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution
The precautionary principle is often proposed as a guide to action in environmental management or risk assessment, and has been incorporated in various legal and regulatory contexts. For many, it reflects the common sense notion of being safe rather than sorry, but it has attracted numerous critics....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Resilience Alliance
2012-09-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
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| Online Access: | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol17/iss3/art9/ |
| _version_ | 1818739200272367616 |
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| author | Alan R. Johnson |
| author_facet | Alan R. Johnson |
| author_sort | Alan R. Johnson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The precautionary principle is often proposed as a guide to action in environmental management or risk assessment, and has been incorporated in various legal and regulatory contexts. For many, it reflects the common sense notion of being safe rather than sorry, but it has attracted numerous critics. At times, proponents and critics talk at cross purposes, due to the multiplicity of ways the precautionary principle has been formulated. The approach taken here is to examine four general varieties of precaution, relating each to arguments made in various contexts by others. First, I examine the parallel between the precautionary principle and an argument referred to as Pascal's wager. Critics are right to dismiss versions of the precautionary principle that follow the logic of Pascal's wager, because that argument requires assumption of an infinite catastrophe, which is seldom the case in environmental decisions. Second, I explore precaution viewed as an instance of the phenomenon of ambiguity aversion as described by Daniel Ellsberg. Third, I evaluate precautionary perspectives on our duties to future generations, drawing inspiration from the views of Gifford Pinchot. Fourth, I consider the precautionary principle as an instance of Aldo Leopold's notion of intelligent tinkering. Although controversy persists, I find that a legitimate theoretical foundation exists to implement Ellsbergian, Pinchotian and Leopoldean varieties of precaution in environmental decision making. Additionally, I remark on the role of adaptive management and maintaining resilience in ecological and social systems as an approach to implementing the precautionary principle. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T01:21:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ee955e33fd5643979f1774df994fd257 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T01:21:03Z |
| publishDate | 2012-09-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-ee955e33fd5643979f1774df994fd2572022-12-21T21:25:51ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872012-09-01173910.5751/ES-04827-1703094827Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled PrecautionAlan R. Johnson0Clemson UniversityThe precautionary principle is often proposed as a guide to action in environmental management or risk assessment, and has been incorporated in various legal and regulatory contexts. For many, it reflects the common sense notion of being safe rather than sorry, but it has attracted numerous critics. At times, proponents and critics talk at cross purposes, due to the multiplicity of ways the precautionary principle has been formulated. The approach taken here is to examine four general varieties of precaution, relating each to arguments made in various contexts by others. First, I examine the parallel between the precautionary principle and an argument referred to as Pascal's wager. Critics are right to dismiss versions of the precautionary principle that follow the logic of Pascal's wager, because that argument requires assumption of an infinite catastrophe, which is seldom the case in environmental decisions. Second, I explore precaution viewed as an instance of the phenomenon of ambiguity aversion as described by Daniel Ellsberg. Third, I evaluate precautionary perspectives on our duties to future generations, drawing inspiration from the views of Gifford Pinchot. Fourth, I consider the precautionary principle as an instance of Aldo Leopold's notion of intelligent tinkering. Although controversy persists, I find that a legitimate theoretical foundation exists to implement Ellsbergian, Pinchotian and Leopoldean varieties of precaution in environmental decision making. Additionally, I remark on the role of adaptive management and maintaining resilience in ecological and social systems as an approach to implementing the precautionary principle.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol17/iss3/art9/adaptive managementAldo LeopoldambiguityBlaise PascalDaniel Ellsbergdecision theoryfuture generationsGifford Pinchotintelligent tinkeringprecautionary principleresilienceriskuncertainty |
| spellingShingle | Alan R. Johnson Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution Ecology and Society adaptive management Aldo Leopold ambiguity Blaise Pascal Daniel Ellsberg decision theory future generations Gifford Pinchot intelligent tinkering precautionary principle resilience risk uncertainty |
| title | Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution |
| title_full | Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution |
| title_fullStr | Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution |
| title_short | Avoiding Environmental Catastrophes: Varieties of Principled Precaution |
| title_sort | avoiding environmental catastrophes varieties of principled precaution |
| topic | adaptive management Aldo Leopold ambiguity Blaise Pascal Daniel Ellsberg decision theory future generations Gifford Pinchot intelligent tinkering precautionary principle resilience risk uncertainty |
| url | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol17/iss3/art9/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alanrjohnson avoidingenvironmentalcatastrophesvarietiesofprincipledprecaution |