The Contribution of Philosophy to Hazards Assessment and Decision Making

Natural hazards assessment, mitigation, research and decisionmaking in the field have not typically been associated with the discipline of philosophy. Nevertheless, there is growing awareness that epistemological issues (regarding the nature ofscientific knowledge, for instance) and ethical questions (for example, relating to responsibilitiesto future generations) can no longer be ignored. This paper explores how values and philosophicalassumptions affect the way that we formulate natural hazards research questions; the methodsthat we choose to examine natural hazards and mitigation schemes; and, ultimately, how weinterpret technical data. It concludes with the recommendation that human factors andqualitative methods of research can contribute in a meaningful way to advancing natural hazardsresearch and decision making. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2003