Toxic Torts

Carl F. Cranor is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. His work focuses on issues that arise in the legal and scientific adjudication of risks from toxic substances and from the new genetic technologies. He has published numerous articles in these fields as well as authoring Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law (1993), editing Are Genes Us? The Social Consequences of the New Genetics (1994) and co-authoring the US Congress' Office of Technology Assessment report, Identifying and Regulating Carcinogens (1987). His articles have appeared in diverse journals such as The American Philosophical Quarterly, The Yale Law Journal, and the American Journal of Public Health. He is a member of the Center for Progressive Reform, a virtual think tank comprised of academic scholars interested in protecting public health and the environment.

Preface; 1. The veil of science over tort law policy; 2. Legal background; 3. Institutional concerns about the Supreme Court's triology; 4. The science of toxicity and reasoning about causation; 5. Excellent evidence makes bad law: pragmatic barriers to the discovery of harm and fair admissibility decisions; 6. Science and law in conflict; 7. Improving legal protections under Daubert; 8. Is Daubert the solution?; Bibliography; Index.