A framework for understanding risk based on the concepts of ontology and epistemology

Abstract Two fundamental philosophical concepts of social science are ontology (idealism and realism), relating to what reality is, and epistemology (epistemological realism, epistemological idealism), relating to how one can obtain knowledge about that reality. These concepts are cornerstones in identifying, understanding, and describing core strategies in sociological theorizing (empiricism, substantialism, rationalism, and subjectivism). Similar philosophical concepts have been introduced and defined in risk science, to explain, assess and understand the risk concept. This paper studies and reconciles these two perspectives with the aim of obtaining new insights on how risks can be better understood, described, and communicated. Earlier work on this topic is extended by using contemporary risk science knowledge, as recently presented by the Society for Risk Analysis. The paper presents a framework for depicting the different ontological and epistemological stands in the risk domain. This framework can be useful for both theoretical and applied researchers studying risk.