"Il principio di precauzione e il bene comune"

Abstract: The progressive development of science and technology demands a profound assessment of the relationship between a range of interests from innovation and the bene ts derived from new discoveries, on the one hand, and people’s well-being, health and security and the need to care for the environment, on the other. This article attempts to examine an institution, the precautionary principle, that in either its elastic or its active version may be an instrument to encourage relationships and trust among various social bodies and to promote the common good. This principle, understood in such a way, demands a continuous dialogue between civil society, institutions and enterprises in the search for practicable options that give grounds for studying an optimal, agreed strategy to distribute the bene ts and risks of scienti c and technological development.