Technology-induced Risks in an International Perspective

Abstract :

New technologies pose new risks. However, how new is this problem ? Since when and how have humans learned to assess such risks ? How often has it led them to abandon innovative technologies or to abstain from developing them ? Are risks involving food and drugs, i.e. substances directly introduced into human body, perceived differently from risks stemming from technologies that remain on the outside of the body ? Has the progress of medicine diminished or amplified societal aversion to health risks ? Are risks presented by military technologies assessed differently from those linked with peacetime technological innovation ? How has the concept of risk itself evolved in the last two centuries since the onset of the industrial revolution ? How have the regulatory measures reflected this evolution ? What has been the interaction among government agencies, professional associations and civil society with respect to management of technological risk ? While all of these questions are important, this paper attempts to answer some of them using the history of technology and the history of ethics.

Our perception of risk contains three main aspects : 1) probability of the risk occurring ; 2) the extent of possible damage ; 3) the degree of voluntary or involuntary exposure to risk. Risk management, i.e. attempts to reduce the uncertainty implicit in the use of new technologies, can be expected to vary not only in time but also between cultures. However, the present paper will focus mostly on Western cultures, leaving aside many fascinating issues involved in perception of new technologies in non-Western civilizations.

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