Irreversibility
The concept of "irreversibility" plays a large role in many domains, including public health, medical practice, and environmental protection. Indeed, the concept is explicit in some statements of the Precautionary Principle. But the idea of irreversibility remains poorly defined. Because o...
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Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2010
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Online Access: | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10877098 https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgq010 |
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ftharvardudash:oai:dash.harvard.edu:1/10877098 2023-05-15T15:34:22+02:00 Irreversibility Sunstein, Cass Robert 2010 application/pdf http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10877098 https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgq010 en_US eng Oxford University Press 10.1093/lpr/mgq010 http://lpr.oxfordjournals.org/content/9/3-4/227.full.pdf+html Law, Probability and Risk Cass Sunstein, Irreversibility, 9 L., Probability & Risk 227 (2010). 1470-8396 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10877098 doi:10.1093/lpr/mgq010 Journal Article 2010 ftharvardudash https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgq010 2022-04-04T12:45:40Z The concept of "irreversibility" plays a large role in many domains, including public health, medical practice, and environmental protection. Indeed, the concept is explicit in some statements of the Precautionary Principle. But the idea of irreversibility remains poorly defined. Because of the flow of time, any loss is, in a sense, irreversible. On one approach, irreversibility might be understood as a reference to the value associated with taking precautionary steps that maintain flexibility for an uncertain future ("option value"). On another approach, irreversibility might be understood to refer to the qualitatively distinctive and even unique nature of certain losses - a point that raises a claim about incommensurability. The two conceptions fit different problems. These ideas can be applied to a wide assortment of environmental and public health questions, including overuse of antibiotics, genetic modification of food, avian flu, and climate change. Version of Record Article in Journal/Newspaper Avian flu Harvard University: DASH - Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard Law, Probability and Risk 9 3-4 227 245 |
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Harvard University: DASH - Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard |
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English |
description |
The concept of "irreversibility" plays a large role in many domains, including public health, medical practice, and environmental protection. Indeed, the concept is explicit in some statements of the Precautionary Principle. But the idea of irreversibility remains poorly defined. Because of the flow of time, any loss is, in a sense, irreversible. On one approach, irreversibility might be understood as a reference to the value associated with taking precautionary steps that maintain flexibility for an uncertain future ("option value"). On another approach, irreversibility might be understood to refer to the qualitatively distinctive and even unique nature of certain losses - a point that raises a claim about incommensurability. The two conceptions fit different problems. These ideas can be applied to a wide assortment of environmental and public health questions, including overuse of antibiotics, genetic modification of food, avian flu, and climate change. Version of Record |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sunstein, Cass Robert |
spellingShingle |
Sunstein, Cass Robert Irreversibility |
author_facet |
Sunstein, Cass Robert |
author_sort |
Sunstein, Cass Robert |
title |
Irreversibility |
title_short |
Irreversibility |
title_full |
Irreversibility |
title_fullStr |
Irreversibility |
title_full_unstemmed |
Irreversibility |
title_sort |
irreversibility |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10877098 https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgq010 |
genre |
Avian flu |
genre_facet |
Avian flu |
op_relation |
10.1093/lpr/mgq010 http://lpr.oxfordjournals.org/content/9/3-4/227.full.pdf+html Law, Probability and Risk Cass Sunstein, Irreversibility, 9 L., Probability & Risk 227 (2010). 1470-8396 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10877098 doi:10.1093/lpr/mgq010 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/lpr/mgq010 |
container_title |
Law, Probability and Risk |
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9 |
container_issue |
3-4 |
container_start_page |
227 |
op_container_end_page |
245 |
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1766364793972719616 |