In Conversation with Dr. Paul Bartha: Precautionary Reasoning and Analogical Reasoning

In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Paul Bartha, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, about precautionary reasoning and analogical reasoning. Dr. Bartha works in Logic, Decision Theory and Philosophy of Science, and is one of the leading philosophers of analogical reasoning. He is the author of *By Parallel Reasoning: The Construction and Evaluation of Analogical Arguments*, published by Oxford University Press, as well as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry “Analogy and Analogical Reasoning.” Together, these works examine how analogies help us draw conclusions in science, philosophy, and everyday life. More recently, his work has turned to precautionary reasoning, especially decisions involving environmental risk. In his presentation “Modeling Precautionary Decisions,” he examines how we should reason when the possible outcomes may be catastrophic, the probabilities uncertain, and the usual tools of decision-making inadequate.