risk

is a concept which makes sense only in a context where the future can be altered or that we can make provisions for its aftermath. This is to say that it arises within a distinction between reality and possibility.

The most general assumption shared by all approaches on risk is the distinction between reality and possibility. As long as the future is Interpreted as either predetermined or independent of human activities, the term 'risk' makes no sense at all (Renn 1992: 56). The concept of risk is tied to the possibility that the future can be altered or at least perceived as such by human activities. It might be that we can directly control the occurrence of an event or that we can at least make provisions for the aftermaths of an event.' (Zinn 2008 p.4)

RennThinkers

Renn