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Catastrophes, whether natural or man-made, that could destroy the human race are often dismissed as alarmist or fanciful, the stuff of science fiction. In fact the risk of such disasters is real, and growing. A collision with an asteroid that might kill a quarter of humanity in 24 hours and the rest soon after; irreversible global warming that might flip, precipitating "snowball earth;" voraciously replicating nanomachines; a catastrophic accident in a particle accelerator that might reduce the earth to a hyperdense sphere 100 meters across; a pandemic of gene-spliced smallpox launched by bioterrorists; even conquest by superintelligent robots-all these potential extinction events, and others, are within the realm of the possible and warrant serious thought about assessment and prevention. They are attracting the concern of reputable scientists--but not of the general public or the nation's policymakers. How should the nation and the world respond to disaster possibilities that, for a variety of psychological and cultural reasons, people find it hard to wrap their minds around? Richard Posner shows that what is needed is a fresh, thoroughly interdisciplinary perspective that will meld the insights of lawyers, economists, psychologists, and other social scientists with those of the physical sciences. Responsibility for averting catastrophe cannot be left either to scientists or to politicians and other policymakers ignorant of science. As in many of his previous books, Posner brings law and the social sciences to bear on a contemporary problem-in this case one of particular urgency. Weighing the risk and the possible responses in each case, Posner shows us what to worry about and what to dismiss, and discusses concrete ways of minimizing the most dangerous risks. Must we yield a degree of national sovereignty in order to deal effectively with global warming? Are limitations on our civil liberties a necessary and proper response to the danger of bioterror attacks? Would investing more heavily in detection and interception systems for menacing asteroids be money well-spent? How far can we press cost-benefit analysis in the design of responses to world-threatening events? Should the institutional framework of science policy be altered? we need educational reform? Is the interface of law and science awry? These are but a few of the issues canvassed in this fascinating, disturbing, and necessary book.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Introduction
• What is catastrophe?
• The organization of this book
• Some useful disctinctions
• 1 What are the catastrohpic risks, and how catastrophic are they?
• Natural catastrophes
• Scientific accidents
• Other unintended man-made catastrophes
• Intentional catastrophes
• Catastrophic synergies and lesser-included catastrophes
• 2 Why so little is being done about the catastrophic risks
• Cultural factors
• Psychological factors
• Economic factors
• 3 How to evaluate the catastrophic risks and the possible responses to them
• The difference cost-benefit analysis can make: the case of RHIC
• A modest version of the precautionary principle
• Discounting to present value
• Taxes, subsidies, and options: the case of global warming
• Valuing human lives
• Risk versus uncertainty
• Coping with uncertainty
• Politics, expertise, and neutrality: RHIC revisited
• Summary
• 4 How to reduce the catastrophic risks
• Institutional reforms
• Fiscal tools: a recap
• Some hypothetical regulatory policies
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Index

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This collection of 17 essays provides a detailed discussion of torture and whether it is ever morally justified. Including scholarly contributions from both Americans and Europeans, it is divided into four parts. First, Henry Shue, Michael Walzer, and Jean Bethke Elshtain discuss whether torture is ever allowable and, if so, under what circumstances. The second part presents John H. Langbein on the legal history of torture in Western law, plus essays by Jeremy Skolnick and Mark Osiel on the use of torture by American and Argentine security services. In the third part, John Parry, Miriam Gur-Arye, Finonnuala Ni Aolain, and Oren Gross discuss attempts to outlaw torture in international law. Also appearing in this section is the text of a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court outlawing the use of specific interrogation practices by that country's security services. In the final section, Alan Dershowitz and Richard Posner argue for the establishment of guidelines allowing torture to gain information under specific circumstances, while Elaine Scarry and Richard Weisberg maintain that torture is not allowable under any condition. Closely argued, well written, and quite readable, these essays jointly constitute a valuable contribution to the field. Recommended for all libraries.-Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ., Parkersburg (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

While the legal prohibition on torture is among the most absolute-its status is akin to slavery and genocide in international law-many of the prominent lawyers, philosophers, political scientists and other thinkers contributing to this provocative yet sober collection acknowledge that torture can be an acceptable option in an extreme situation, such as the interrogation of a captured terrorist who has knowledge of a "ticking bomb." In four sections of three to six essays each-"Philosophical Considerations"; "Torture as Practiced"; "Contemporary Attempts to Abolish Torture Through Law"; and "Reflections on the Post 9-11 Debate About Legalizing Torture"-authors grapple with whether the moral legitimacy of torture in extreme cases should receive legal sanction, or whether a disjunction between law and morality is preferable. The stage is set at the outset with Michael Walzer's classic essay on the problem of "dirty hands," i.e., how one stays loyal to moral principles when confronted with the difficult task of governing. The historical section recounts American, European and South American experiences with secret, illegal and tacitly sanctioned torture. Several essays in the legal section consider the case of Israel, whose Supreme Court outlawed coercive interrogation in 1999; other essays consider the United Nations Torture Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. The final section is a thought-provoking debate among Alan Dershowitz, Elaine Scarry, Judge Richard Posner and Richard H. Weisberg regarding the aftermath of 9/11. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Richard A. Posner is a judge of the U.S. Court Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. He is the author of numerous books, including Overcoming Law, a New York Times Book Review editors' choices for best book of 1995 and An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton, one of Times' choices for Best Book of the Year in 1999 and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, 2000.