kth.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
A panorama of the philosophy of risk
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Philosophy and History of Technology, Philosophy.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0071-3919
2012 (English)In: Handbook of Risk Theory: Epistemology, Decision Theory, Ethics, and Social Implications of Risk, Springer Netherlands , 2012, p. 27-54Chapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The role of philosophy in the development of the risk sciences has been rather limited. This is unfortunate since there are many problems in the analysis and management of risk that philosophers can contribute to solving. Several of the central terms, including '‘risk’' itself, are still in need of terminological clarification.Much of the argumentation in risk issues is unclear and in need of argumentation analysis. There is also still a need to uncover implicit or '‘hidden’’ values in allegedly value-free risk assessments. Eight philosophical perspectives in risk theory are outlined: Fromthe viewpoint of epistemology, risk issues have brought forth problems of trust in expertise and division of epistemological labor. In decision theory, the decision-maker’s degree of control over risks is often problematic and difficult to model. In the philosophy of probability, posterior revisions of risk estimates (in so-called hindsight bias) pose a challenge to the standard model of probabilistic reasoning. In the philosophy of science, issues of risk give us reason to investigate what influence the practical uses of knowledge can legitimately have on the scientific process. In the philosophy of technology, the nature of safety engineering principles and their relationship to risk assessment need to be investigated. In ethics, the most pressing problem is how standard ethical theories can be extended or adjusted to cope with the ethics of risk taking. In the philosophy of economics, the comparison and aggregation of risks falling to different persons give rise to new foundational problems for the theory of welfare. In political philosophy, issues such as trust and consent that have been discussed in connection with risk give us reason to reconsider central issues in the theory of democracy.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Netherlands , 2012. p. 27-54
National Category
Philosophy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-306660DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-1433-5_2Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84952773630ISBN: 9789400714328 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-306660DiVA, id: diva2:1632521
Note

Part of book: ISBN 978-94-007-1433-5, 978-94-007-1432-8

QC 20220127

Available from: 2022-01-27 Created: 2022-01-27 Last updated: 2025-02-25Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Hansson, Sven Ove

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Hansson, Sven Ove
By organisation
Philosophy
Philosophy

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
isbn
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
isbn
urn-nbn
Total: 989 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf