The Silence of the Sirens: Environmental Risk and the Precautionary Principle

Abstract

The connection between actor, risk and science is analysed and a connection with the precautionary principle is performed along those lines. Risk is described as the projection of a specific temporal and spatial situation into the future. The relevance of calculation in any risk projection necessarily involves the following factors: time, causality, subjectivity and relativity of risk, all of which are redefined in the process of the argument and especially when the law deals with risk. More particularly, it is argued that the concept of the Precautionary Principle deals with environmental risk in a radical way, relying while negating science. The discussion is presented through the epic risk of the isle of the Sirens next to which Odysseus and his crew managed to float unharmed, while at the same time exposing themselves to the beauty (and knowledge) of the song of the Sirens.

Keywords: Risk, Science, Precautionary Principle, Time, Law, Luhmann, Causality, Subjectivity

JEL Classification: K10, K19, K32