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Full-Text Articles in Philosophy

Investigating The Environmental Risks Of Transgenic Crops, Hugh Lacey Jan 2004

Investigating The Environmental Risks Of Transgenic Crops, Hugh Lacey

Philosophy Faculty Works

Legitimation of public policies that support the widespread plantings of transgenic crops presuppose, among other conditions, that (1) evidence supports that there are no unmanageable environmental risks and (2) there are no better ways to produce enough nourishing food that can dispense with the transgenics-oriented ways. This paper discusses: (a) the kinds of scientific inquiry that are needed to address (1) adequately, (b) the connections between investigations of (1) and (2), and (c) how these investigations are related with controversial social values.
A legitimação de políticas públicas que apóiam o cultivo de lavouras transgênicas em larga escala pressupõe, entre outras …


The Virtues Of Uncertainty In Law: An Experimental Approach, Tom Baker, Alon Harel, Tamar Kugler Jan 2004

The Virtues Of Uncertainty In Law: An Experimental Approach, Tom Baker, Alon Harel, Tamar Kugler

All Faculty Scholarship

Predictability in civil and criminal sanctions is generally understood as desirable. Conversely, unpredictability is condemned as a violation of the rule of law. This paper explores predictability in sanctioning from the point of view of efficiency. It is argued that, given a constant expected sanction, deterrence is increased when either the size of the sanction or the probability that it will be imposed is uncertain. This conclusion follows from earlier findings in behavioral decision research and the results of an experiment conducted specifically to examine this hypothesis. The findings suggest that, within an efficiency framework, there are virtues to uncertainty …