The Philosophy of Expertise

by Evan Selinger (Author), Robert Crease (Author)

New
Illustrated
2006
$96.43

From the use of expert testimony in the courtroom to the advice we rely on to solve key economic, political, and social problems, expertise is an essential part of our decision-making process. However, the extent to which experts can be trusted is a subject of persistent and contentious debate. The Philosophy of Expertise is the first collection to explore the fundamental philosophical issues surrounding these authorities and their expert knowledge. Part 1 considers the problems surrounding the issue of trust and deference; part 2 launches a phenomenological clarification of expertise that pinpoints the universal structures embodied in cognition and affect; and part 3 examines the consequences of the social and technical externalization of expertise. Contributors including Edward Said, Alvin Goldman, Peter Singer, Hubert Dreyfus, Julia Annas, Harry Collins, and Don Ihde draw on a number of intellectual approaches to explore the justification of expert authority, the potentially dangerous role of expertise in a liberal democratic society, how laypeople can critique experts, and the social and ideological character of expert advice. The contributors also discuss the reasoning process of judges and juries, the ancient Greek view of moral conduct, and the incorporation of experts into governmental bureaucracy. By honestly tackling the legitimacy and consistency of various positions, this volume sheds much-needed light on the theoretical dimensions of a controversial and pervasive practice. Contributors: Alvin I. Goldman, Don Ihde, Edward Said, Evan Selinger and John Mix, Evan Selinger and Robert P. Crease, H. M. Collins and Robert Evans, Helene Mialet, Hubert Dreyfus, John Hardwig, Julia Annas, Paul Feyerabend, Peter Singer, Scott Brewer, Steve Fuller, Steven Turner

Synopsis

From the use of expert testimony in the courtroom to the advice we rely on to solve key economic, political, and social problems, expertise is an essential part of our decision-making process. However, the extent to which experts can be trusted is a subject of persistent and contentious debate. The Philosophy of Expertise is the first collection to explore the fundamental philosophical issues surrounding these authorities and their expert knowledge. Part 1 considers the problems surrounding the issue of trust and deference; part 2 launches a phenomenological clarification of expertise that pinpoints the universal structures embodied in cognition and affect; and part 3 examines the consequences of the social and technical externalization of expertise. Contributors including Edward Said, Alvin Goldman, Peter Singer, Hubert Dreyfus, Julia Annas, Harry Collins, and Don Ihde draw on a number of intellectual approaches to explore the justification of expert authority, the potentially dangerous role of expertise in a liberal democratic society, how laypeople can critique experts, and the social and ideological character of expert advice. The contributors also discuss the reasoning process of judges and juries, the ancient Greek view of moral conduct, and the incorporation of experts into governmental bureaucracy. By honestly tackling the legitimacy and consistency of various positions, this volume sheds much-needed light on the theoretical dimensions of a controversial and pervasive practice. Contributors: Alvin I. Goldman, Don Ihde, Edward Said, Evan Selinger and John Mix, Evan Selinger and Robert P. Crease, H. M. Collins and Robert Evans, Helene Mialet, Hubert Dreyfus, John Hardwig, Julia Annas, Paul Feyerabend, Peter Singer, Scott Brewer, Steve Fuller, Steven Turner

$96.43

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20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 432
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 11 Aug 2006
ISBN 10: 0231136447
ISBN 13: 9780231136440
Book Overview: This volume adds a new dimension to critical reflection on science, technology, engineering, and medicine. Most collections rehearse already established themes; this one, however, actually opens up new territory. Through this book, the personal and political reliance on experts becomes a general theme in the philosophy and social studies of science and technology. A brief but insightful introduction by the editors lays out the basic issues that will animate discussions of expertise for the foreseeable future. -- Carl Mitcham, editor in chief, Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics Here's one of the great dilemmas of our contemporary world: we cannot possibly, each of us separately, master the range of pressing issues that face us in the technical, regulatory, or medical domains. So we have to trust experts. At the same time the experts disagree, sometimes violently, with one another, with politicians, with the public. Since trusting experts in some simple sense is out of the question, what do we do? What should we do? In this wide-ranging and thoughtful volume, Robert P. Crease and Evan Selinger have assembled, among others, philosophers, sociologists, historians, and literary theorists to reflect on the conundrum. It is a fascinating book on a vital current topic. -- Peter Galison, Joseph Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University

Media Reviews

A first-rate collection... Their anthology will justifiably become the reference of choice for those interested in expertise. -- Ben Almassi Ethics The Philosophy of Expertise will catalyse the philosphical debate on expertise. It is certainly very well suited to do so. -- Vanessa Morlock Interdisciplinary Science Reviews A pioneering volume. -- Christopher Hamlin Public Understanding of Science [This book] should be on the shelves of all philosophers interested in science, and even more of all scientists interested in how their discipline is perceived by the general public. -- Massimo Pigliucci The Quarterly Review of Biology Overall, this stimulating collection is crisply introduced and thoughtfully compiled. -- Erik Fisher Isis

Author Bio

Robert P. Crease is a professor of philosophy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and has written extensively on issues at the intersection of science and society. Evan Selinger is assistant professor of philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and is the editor of Chasing Techno-Science: Matrix for Materiality and coeditor of Expanding Phenomenology: A Critical Companion to Ihde.