Etienne de Villiers, more than other theologians, elaborates on basic elements of a Christian ethics of responsibility. He distinguishes between retrospective and prospective responsibility. The prospective aspect attracted awareness after the nuclear accident in the Fukushima reactors on 11 March 2011. The question on how to respond in an ethically responsible manner to catastrophic risks was put back on the agenda. The article takes up this question and discusses the answer given in the international debate by the introduction of the ?precautionary principle?. The principle is described with its background in the ?heuristics of fear?, proposed by the philosopher Hans Jonas. Four criticisms are discussed in detail relating to the problems of scientific uncertainty, the burden of proof, the weight of damages and the perils of precaution. That leads to a reformulation of the precautionary principle as a concrete element within an ethics of responsibility.
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机译：与其他神学家相比，埃蒂安·德·维利耶斯（Etienne de Villiers）更加详细地阐述了基督教责任伦理的基本要素。他区分了追溯责任和预期责任。在2011年3月11日福岛核反应堆发生核事故后，前瞻性方面引起了人们的注意。关于如何以道德上负责任的方式应对灾难性风险的问题又被提上了议程。本文讨论了这个问题，并通过引入“预防原则”来讨论国际辩论中给出的答案。该原理的背景是在哲学家汉斯·乔纳斯（Hans Jonas）提出的“恐惧启发法”中描述的。详细讨论了四种批评，这些批评涉及科学不确定性，举证责任，损害赔偿的重重和预防的风险。这就导致将预防原则重新制定为责任伦理中的具体内容。
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