Acceptable Evidence Science and Values in Risk Management

by Mayo, Deborah G.; Hollander, Rachelle D.

• ISBN13: 9780195089295
• ISBN10: 0195089294
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-02-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Discussions of science and values in risk management have largely focussedon how values enter into arguments about risks, that is, issues of acceptablerisk. Instead this volume concentrates on how values enter into collecting,interpreting, communicating, and evaluating the evidence of risks, that is,issues of the acceptability of evidence of risk. By focusing on acceptableevidence, this volume avoids two barriers to progress. One barrier assumes thatevidence of risk is largely a matter of objective scientific data and thereforeuncontroversial. The other assumes that evidence of risk, being "just" a matterof values, is not amenable to reasoned critique. Denying both extremes, thisvolume argues for a more constructive conclusion: understanding theinterrelations of scientific and value issues enables a critical scrutiny ofrisk assessments and better public deliberation about social choices. Thecontributors, distinguished philosophers, policy analysts, and natural andsocial scientists, analyze environmental and medical controversies, andassumptions underlying views about risk assessment and the scientific andstatistical models used in risk management.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
Perceiving and Communicating Risk Evidence
Introduction	p. 3
Hidden Hazards	p. 9
Acceptable Evidence in a Pluralistic Society	p. 29
Beyond Numbers: A Broader Perspective on Risk Perception and Risk Communication	p. 48
Guidelines for Communicating Information About Chemical Risks Effectively and Responsibly	p. 66
Uncertain Evidence in Risk Management
Introduction	p. 93
Risk Assessment and Risk Management: An Uneasy Divorce	p. 99
Understanding Uncertainties in Medical Evidence: Professional and Public Responsibilities	p. 115
Evidential, Ethical, and Policy Disputes: Admissible Evidence in Radioactive Waste Management	p. 137
Expert Claims and Social Decisions: Science, Politics, and Responsibility	p. 160
Philosophy and Scientific Evidence
Introduction	p. 177
Knowledge, Values, and Technological Decisions: A Decision Theoretic Approach	p. 183
Causing Harm: Epidemiological and Physiological Concepts of Causation	p. 204
Reductionist Approaches to Risk	p. 218
Sociological Versus Metascientific Views of Risk Assessment	p. 249
Contributors	p. 281
Index	p. 283
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