Power of Judgement: How to Proceed when we Reach the Limits of Our Knowledge? From Knowledge to Action

Comprehensive solutions in areas such as climate, waste prevention, protection of biodiversity, or use of natural resources could, it might seem, be rapidly and decisively advanced if only the recommendations of the sciences were followed. For the climate problem, the following solution path seems to be offered: Natural scientists provide reliable information about the sources of greenhouse gases and their effects in the atmosphere, engineers design technologies for climate-friendly production processes. Economists, social scientists, and jurists develop proposals for incentives and prohibitions or market-conforming levies and certificates, politics implements what the experts from the sciences demand: Shouldn’t all this in sum lead to climate neutrality being achieved within a comparatively short time? This chapter deals with knowledge and the ability to translate knowledge into appropriate action. Scientific knowledge, even if it provides an accurate description and analysis of the facts, is not sufficient. Effective action requires practical knowledge, the know-how of actors in politics, economics, and society. The connection of scientific knowledge with practical knowledge requires a competence that is introduced in this chapter with the term power of judgement.