Agnotology and the Precautionary Principle

Authors

  • Pedro Bravo de Souza Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2021.e80461

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the relationships between agnotology (social construction of ignorance) and the precautionary principle (PP) from two perspectives. The first one has to do with the objection according to which some PP defenders would have used ignorance construction strategies. Drawing from Daniel Steel's work, I show how they undermine an internal criterion to the principle itself: proportionality. I then comment on public documents that show agnotology strategies by sectors of the industry both on PP and on scientific results so that it could not be applied. Such an exposition has not yet been done on the literature about PP. In doing so, I aim to contribute to identify the presence of agnotology on debates about PP.

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Published

2021-11-23

Issue

Section

Special Issue: Science and Values