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Dit congres is een initiatief van:

Meer winst uit samenwerking

Prof.dr. Sabine Roeser Philosophy Departments TU Delft and University of Twente Managing Director, 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology

NWO-VIDI-fellow 2010-2015

Risico-emoties als beginpunt van discussie en samenwerken ‘Geen woorden maar daden’

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Conventional risk management

• Risk = probability x unwanted effect

• Eg. Annual fatalities as consequence of a technology

• Cost/benefit-analysis in order to decide whether a technology is implemented

• ‘Rational, objective, value neutral method’- ???

The public

• Takes other considerations into account in determining whether a risk is acceptable:

• Fair distribution costs/benefits?

• Risky activity freely chosen?

• Available alternatives?

• Some risks can lead to enormous catastrophes, unacceptable, even if low probability

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The Ethics of Technological Risk

• Same concerns are shared by risk ethicists:

• Justice, fairness, equity, autonomy…

• C/B-analysis far from value neutral

Emotions

• Emotions such as fear important factor in laypeople’s risk perceptions

• Cass Sunstein (2005): risk-emotions are irrational; we should follow cost/benefit-analysis (with constraints)

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Affect in Decision Making under Uncertainty

• Paul Slovic and others: emotions and rationality are distinct sources of insight that have opposite tasks

• Dual Process Theory (DPT): • System 1 is emotional, affective, intuitive,

spontaneous and evolutionary prior. • System 2 is rational, analytical, reflective

and occurred later in our evolution. • System 2 normatively superior to system

1. • Similar to common dichotomy emotion vs

reason

An alternative view about emotions

• Emotions are needed for practical rationality (Damasio 1994)

• Emotions are affective and cognitive at the same time

• They are evaluative judgments (Nussbaum, Solomon etc) or ‘concern-based construals’ (Robert C. Roberts)

• I.e. they involve propositional attitudes and care about the object of the proposition

• ‘I am afraid of nuclear energy because I fear a meltdown and I care about the environment’

• Features of system 1 and system 2 • emotions fall into both systems or neither

(‘system 3’?)

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Moral Emotions and Risk

• Emotions indispensable source of ethical insight (Roeser 2002, 2011)

• Also concerning ethical aspects of technological risk (Roeser VENI-project 2006-2009)

• Sympathy, fear, indignation, enthousiasm

• Point to morally salient aspects of technologies

• Such as risks, benefits, autonomy, fairness

Emotions and Risky Technologies

• Moral emotions are legitimate, even necessary sources of insight concerning the moral acceptability of risks

• Emotions should be included in decision making about acceptable risks

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Moral emotions and risk decisions

• In order to avoid e.g. ‘probability neglect’ (Sunstein 2005):

• Moral emotions about risk have to be informed by science and statistics

• However, in order to avoid ‘complexity neglect’:

• Decisions about risk have to be informed by moral emotions

Risk-emotions of experts

• Example of nanotechnology (Scheufele et al. 2007):

• Experts more worried than public.

• My claim:

• Experts should take their emotional concerns seriously in design of risky technologies

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Correcting Emotion through Emotion

• Emotions can be misguided

• But:

• Emotions can be reflective

• Possibility of shifting points of view

• Caring for the wellbeing of others

• Reflective emotions can help us assess initial emotions (cf. Lacewing 2005)

• E.g. solve NIMBY-problem: altruistic emotions can help overcome egoistic emotions (cf. Robert Frank)

• Kennis van elkaars drijfveren, zienswijzen en emoties kan tot beter begrip leiden en daarmee tot draagvlak en bundeling van competenties.

• Door emoties als uitgangspunt te nemen is het mogelijk om samenwerking te bewerkstellingen en zo aan een veiligere leefomgeving bij te dragen.

Emoties en management van integrale veiligheid