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Fear of principles? A cautious defense of the Precautionary Principle

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  • Gloria Origgi

Abstract

Should fear guide our actions and governments’ political decisions? A leitmotiv of common sense is that emotions are tricky, they blur our rational capacity of estimating utilities in order to plan action and thus they should be banned from any account of our rational expectations. In this paper I argue that an “heuristic of fear” is the appropriate attitude to adopt in order to cope with extreme risks. I thus defend the Precautionary Principle against the criticism put forward by Cass Sunstein and other authors on the basis of a new analysis of extreme risks or “ruin-problems”. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Gloria Origgi, 2014. "Fear of principles? A cautious defense of the Precautionary Principle," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 13(2), pages 215-225, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:minsoc:v:13:y:2014:i:2:p:215-225
    DOI: 10.1007/s11299-014-0152-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Mill, John Stuart, 1861. "Representative Government," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number mill1861.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Cedrini & Marco Novarese, 2015. "The challenge of fear to economics," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 14(1), pages 99-106, June.
    2. Kenisha Garnett & David J. Parsons, 2017. "Multi‐Case Review of the Application of the Precautionary Principle in European Union Law and Case Law," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 502-516, March.

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