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Bridging the Gap between Social Acceptance and Ethical Acceptability

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  • Behnam Taebi

Abstract

New technology brings great benefits, but it can also create new and significant risks. When evaluating those risks in policymaking, there is a tendency to focus on social acceptance. By solely focusing on social acceptance, we could, however, overlook important ethical aspects of technological risk, particularly when we evaluate technologies with transnational and intergenerational risks. I argue that good governance of risky technology requires analyzing both social acceptance and ethical acceptability. Conceptually, these two notions are mostly complementary. Social acceptance studies are not capable of sufficiently capturing all the morally relevant features of risky technologies; ethical analyses do not typically include stakeholders’ opinions, and they therefore lack the relevant empirical input for a thorough ethical evaluation. Only when carried out in conjunction are these two types of analysis relevant to national and international governance of risky technology. I discuss the Rawlsian wide reflective equilibrium as a method for marrying social acceptance and ethical acceptability. Although the rationale of my argument is broadly applicable, I will examine the case of multinational nuclear waste repositories in particular. This example will show how ethical issues may be overlooked if we focus only on social acceptance, and will provide a test case for demonstrating how the wide reflective equilibrium can help to bridge the proverbial acceptance‐acceptability gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Behnam Taebi, 2017. "Bridging the Gap between Social Acceptance and Ethical Acceptability," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(10), pages 1817-1827, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:37:y:2017:i:10:p:1817-1827
    DOI: 10.1111/risa.12734
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Yuichiro Amekawa, 2023. "High-Level Radioactive Disposal Policy in Japan: A Sociological Appraisal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-26, May.
    4. Dupras, Charles & Birko, Stanislav & Affdal, Aliya O. & Haidar, Hazar & Lemoine, Marie-Eve & Ravitsky, Vardit, 2022. "Governing the futures of non-invasive prenatal testing: An exploration of social acceptability using the Delphi method," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    5. Peng Liu & Run Yang & Zhigang Xu, 2019. "How Safe Is Safe Enough for Self‐Driving Vehicles?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(2), pages 315-325, February.
    6. Claudy, Marius C. & Parkinson, Mary & Aquino, Karl, 2024. "Why should innovators care about morality? Political ideology, moral foundations, and the acceptance of technological innovations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    7. Gauttier, Stéphanie, 2019. "‘I've got you under my skin’ – The role of ethical consideration in the (non-) acceptance of insideables in the workplace," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 93-108.
    8. Wang, Fan & Wang, Jing & Gu, Jibao, 2024. "Perceived information quality, trust in government, and local acceptance of nuclear power in China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    9. Otto Spijkers, 2018. "Intergenerational Equity and the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-12, October.
    10. John Downer & M. V. Ramana, 2021. "Empires built on sand: On the fundamental implausibility of reactor safety assessments and the implications for nuclear regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1304-1325, October.
    11. Behnam Taebi & Jan H. Kwakkel & Céline Kermisch, 2020. "Governing climate risks in the face of normative uncertainties," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(5), September.
    12. Nicoleta Cristache & Nicoleta Valentina Florea & Marian Nastase & Gabriel Croitoru & Costinela Fortea & Manuela-Violeta Tureatca, 2025. "The Influence of Political, Social, and Economic Factors on the Acceptance of Technology in the Workplace in the Context of Industrial Revolution 4.0," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 27(68), pages 1-76, February.
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    14. Bolbot, Victor & Bergström, Martin & Rahikainen, Marko & Valdez Banda, Osiris A., 2025. "Investigation into safety acceptance principles for autonomous ships," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 257(PA).

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