Hugh Lacey (Swarthmore College)
Ethical and social values affect decisions made about the criteria that should be deployed (1) for identifying the range of risks, and of relevant empirical data needed for making judgments about them, that should be considered in public policy deliberations about using technoscientific innovations, and (2) for determining how well claims concerning risks should be supported by the available data in order to warrant that they have a decisive role in the deliberations. The trustworthiness of scientists is put into question, and their authority diminished, when their input into public policy deliberations does not reflect clear responses to this matter.
