Abstract

ZAPATA CLAVERIA, Miguel Alberto. Prudence and political deliberation: An aristotelian reformulation of the Precautionary Principle. En-clav. pen [online]. 2022, vol.16, n.32, e475.  Epub Sep 26, 2022. ISSN 2594-1100.  https://doi.org/10.46530/ecdp.v0i32.475.

This paper develops an Aristotelian interpretation of the Precautionary Principle to show that assessment and management of scientific-technological risk should be closely linked to processes of political deliberation involving non-expert communities. This recovery of the political sense of phrónesis and its translation to the field of regulation avoids the temptation to seek authoritarian or technocratic ways of resolving environmental risk problems. Moreover, it allows us to respond to two criticisms recurrently launched against the Precautionary Principle: 1) that which warns of the disregard of the negative consequences derived from its application and 2) that which claims that it is based on biases that distort judgment and lead to bad decisions. In the face of these objections, a political-prudential conception of precaution will show that an inclusive deliberative process is the best strategy for detecting undesirable effects and, therefore, for improving our decisions.

Keywords : Aristotle; Deliberation; Precautionary Principle; Prudence; Risk.