Cass Sunstein

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Cass Sunstein

Cass Robert Sunstein (born September 21, 1954 in Concord , Massachusetts ) is an American professor of law at Harvard University . His main areas of activity are constitutional law , administrative law , environmental law , as well as a behavioral analysis of law. In 2018 he was awarded the Holberg Prize for his scientific work .

Life

Cass Sunstein is the son of Cass Richard Sunstein and his wife Marian, geb. Goodrich. Sunstein received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1975 . In 1978 he joined the JD with magna cum laude at Harvard Law School , where he also Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review published. He then worked as a clerk with the judge Benjamin Kaplan at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1978-1979) and with Thurgood Marshall at the Supreme Court (1979-1980). From 1980 to 1981 he worked as a consultant for the US Department of Justice . He is an honorary doctorate from Copenhagen Business School .

He then taught for more than 20 years at the University of Chicago , both at the Law School and in the Department of Political Science . In 1992 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 2008 he went to Harvard Law School, where he became director of a research project on risk regulation.

From 2009 to 2012 he headed the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House under President Barack Obama , a sub-agency of the Office of Management and Budget . He has been a member of the American Philosophical Society since 2010 .

In 2013 he took over the Harvard professorship from retired Frank Michelman (* 1936). In 2017 he was elected a member of the British Academy . For 2018, Sunstein was awarded the Norwegian Holberg Prize .

Sunstein's first marriage was Lisa Ruddick, an English professor at the University of Chicago ; since 2008 he has been married to Harvard professor and diplomat Samantha Power .

plant

Sunstein is considered one of the most productive and most cited legal authors in the USA. He became known for his theses on various topics, which are often based on behavioral economic analyzes of irrational behavior. He published on risk perception and the precautionary principle , taking the position that currently publicly discussed dangers are systematically overestimated by the population. Together with Richard Thaler , he worked out a theory of libertarian paternalism . It argues that the individual should be free to decide about his or her future, but that the state should set the framework conditions in such a way that irrational decisions are avoided as far as possible. For this control of the incentives Sunstein and Thaler established the term nudging , the nudging in the desired direction. Nudging has received an intensive reception in American law , which is related to the special role of paternalism there in connection with the competence norms of the US constitution.

Furthermore, Cass Sunstein is in Infotopia. How many minds produce knowledge deals with rules for communication in open knowledge networks (such as Wikipedia ), "with which these discussion processes can be designed in such a way that we come to more and, above all, more precise knowledge, in which we can all participate in the ideal infotopic case" .

In his 2017 book Laws of Fear. Beyond the precautionary principle , Sunstein takes a critical look at the precautionary principle . According to Sunstein, the precautionary principle in a very narrow formulation or interpretation can no longer serve as a decision-making basis for regulatory action, since every possible option for action entails risks and the precautionary principle in a narrow interpretation would therefore exclude all options. He also explains that "there are clearly identifiable properties of human thought" which falsely give the principle the appearance of providing guidance. In the second part of the book he deals with possible solutions.

In 2009, Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule published an essay on false and harmful conspiracy theories (that there are also real conspiracies, so that conspiracy theories can also be applicable and useful, he frankly concedes). In it she argued, false and malicious conspiracy theories would arise on the basis of a "crippled epistemology " ( "crippled epistemology") and were "a subset of the large category of false assumptions" ( "a subset of the large category of false beliefs") and thus socially and politically harmful, especially for the anti-terror policy of the American government. Sunstein and Vermeulen recommend that the government should actively fight the spread of such conspiracy theories by instructing government employees to enter chat rooms , social networks and real groups in order to cast doubts on the factual premises of the conspiracy theories, their causal logic or their implications for political action spread. The Australian philosopher David Coady criticizes this principle of delegitimizing all conspiracy theories as propaganda with the aim of increasing the credibility of "herd opinions" or statements by the government. In this sense, such a "conspiracy baiting" harms the ideal of an open society .

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Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments-and-centres/department-of-management-society-and-communication
  2. ^ Cass R. Sunstein . University of Chicago Law School
  3. ↑ https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments-and-centres/department-of-management-society-and-communication
  4. ↑ Just a nudge and the person becomes sensible . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , January 27, 2013, p. 21
  5. ^ Member History: Cass R. Sunstein. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 28, 2018 (with biographical notes).
  6. ↑ news.harvard.edu
  7. ^ Elections to the British Academy celebrate the diversity of UK research. British Academy , July 21, 2017, accessed July 21, 2017 .
  8. ↑ The Harvard Crimson, July 7, 2008: Sunstein and Power, Harvard Power Couple, Tie the Knot , accessed December 15, 2016
  9. ^ Jürgen Kaube: Obama's adviser Cass Sunstein: A node in the network . In: FAZ , November 6, 2008
  10. ↑ Cass R. Sunstein: Laws of fear: Beyond the precautionary principle . From the American by Robin Celikates and Eva Engels. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2007
  11. ↑ Nudge: How to Make Smart Decisions . From the American by Christoph Bausum. Econ, Berlin 2009
  12. ↑ Christopher Unseld: Take your 3D glasses off - How nudging provokes the way we imagine law . Verfassungsblog, April 19, 2015
  13. ^ Cass Sunstein: Infotopia. How many heads produce knowledge . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2009
  14. ↑ Suhrkamp Verlag's blurb
  15. ^ Cass R. Sunstein, Adrian Vermeule: Conspiracy Theories. Causes and Cures . In: Journal of Political Philosophy , 17, 2009, pp. 202-227 ( draft version accessed on October 3, 2014).
  16. ↑ David Coady: Rumors, Conspiracy Theories, and Propaganda . In: Andreas Anton , Michael Schetsche , Michael Walter (Eds.): Konspiration. Sociology of Conspiracy Thinking . Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2014, p. 294 f.
personal data
SURNAME Sunstein, Cass
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sunstein, Cass Robert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and economist
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Concord , Massachusetts