Experts in science

a view from the trenches

Carlo Martini

pp. 3-15

in: Cyrille Imbert, Ryan Muldoon, Jan Sprenger, Kevin Zollman (eds), The collective dimension of science, Synthese 191 (1), 2014.

Abstract

In this paper I analyze four so-called “principles of expertise”; that is, good epistemic practices that are normatively motivated by the epistemological literature on expert judgment. I highlight some of the problems that the four principles of expertise run into, when we try to implement them in concrete contexts of application (e.g. in science committees). I suggest some possible alternatives and adjustments to the principles, arguing in general that the epistemology of expertise should be informed both by case studies and by the literature on the use of experts in science practice.