Laws of Fear Beyond the Precautionary Principle [Hardcover]

A major statement from one of the most influential political and legal theorists writing today.This is a book about the complex relationship between fear, danger, and the law. Cass Sunstein looks afresh at the precautionary principle, and argues that in its strongest forms the precautionary principle is both incoherent and potentially paralysing, as risks exist on all sides of social situations, and that there is no 'general' precautionary principle as such. This is a very important insight for the contemporary world, and The Laws of Fear represents a major statement from one the most influential political and legal theorists writing today.This is a book about the complex relationship between fear, danger, and the law. Cass Sunstein looks afresh at the precautionary principle, and argues that in its strongest forms the precautionary principle is both incoherent and potentially paralysing, as risks exist on all sides of social situations, and that there is no 'general' precautionary principle as such. This is a very important insight for the contemporary world, and The Laws of Fear represents a major statement from one the most influential political and legal theorists writing today.This book is about the complex relationship between fear, danger, and the law. Cass Sunstein argues that the precautionary principle is incoherent and potentially paralyzing, as risks exist on all sides of social situations and there is no 'general' precautionary principle as such. His insight into The Laws of Fear represents a major statement for the contemporary world from one of the most influential political and legal theorists writing today.Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Problems: 1. Precautions and paralysis; 2. Behind the precautionary principle; 3. Worst case scenarios; 4. Fear as wildfire; Part II. Solutions: 5. Reconstructing the precautionary principle - and managing fear; 6. Costs and benefits; 7. Democracy, rights, and distribution; 8. Libertarian paternalism with Ril“›