Risk and responsibility: rejoinder to the paper by Silvio Funtowicz and Roger Strand

摘要

I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this paper, and in particular, to participate in a discussion on risk governance that questions basic assumptions. While I believe it is important and timely to reconsider risk and responsibility, I differ considerably from the perspective of Funtowicz and Strand (2011). I am not persuaded that we need 'alternatives to the centrality of the risk discourse'. We rather need reaf-firmation that human existence involves making decisions in the face of uncertainty, and that much of that uncertainty arises from Nature. We cannot expect through science to have complete understanding, let alone control, over Nature, and similarly for the actions, including mistakes and malevolence, of our fellow humans.