Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Keywords
knowledge norm, norms of assertion, testimony, social epistemology, expert testimony
Abstract
Expert testimony figures in recent debates over how best to understand the norm of assertion and the domain-specific epistemic expectations placed on testifiers. Cases of experts asserting with only isolated second-hand knowledge Jennifer (Lackey 2011, 2013) have been used to shed light on whether knowledge is sufficient for epistemically permissible assertion. I argue that relying on such cases of expert testimony introduces several problems concerning how we understand expert knowledge, and the sharing of such knowledge through testimony. Refinements are needed to clarify exactly what principles are being tested by such cases; but once refined, such cases raise more questions than they answer.
Recommended Citation
Matthew A. Benton, "Expert Opinion and Second-Hand Knowledge," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 92 (2016): 492-508.