Abstract
AbstractThis paper examines the question of ethical expertise and does so in the context of bioethics or, more accurately, applied ethics and the ethical governance of the life sciences. This analysis builds on a perspective set out in a previous paper and develops it further such that it relates to democratic processes. I argue that the academic practice of applied ethics exhibits a particular logic, way of thinking or eidos. Drawing on work in the history of science I present the logic of this practice as underpinned by a particular set of values or ethos. This can be contrasted with what Bernstein calls the democratic ethos as well as that of everyday moral agents. Using the framework of expertise developed by Collins and Evan’s—which differentiates between ubiquitous, contributory, and interactional expertise—I suggest that (bio)ethicists should modulate their expertise depending on the particular nature of the fora—academic, public, and policy-making—they are speaking in.
Highlights
This paper considers the notion of ethical expertise and, while it does so in the context of bioethics—a multi- and inter-disciplinary endeavor—the focus is on the philosophical discipline of applied or practical ethics
If we take the view that the bioethical expert is responsible to the normative structure of their discipline, which is to say situated within its particular ethos or morality, they can be considered to be a specialist in a particular eidos, a way of ethical thinking native to applied philosophical ethics
In this paper, I have sought to address the problem of ethical expertise by making use of ubiquitous, interactional, and contributory expertise (Collins & Evans, 2007) and the concepts of ethos and eidos
Summary
This paper considers the notion of ethical expertise and, while it does so in the context of bioethics—a multi- and inter-disciplinary endeavor—the focus is on the philosophical discipline of applied or practical ethics It builds upon and extends a previous analysis that had similar concerns but took medical ethics as the context for analysis (Emmerich, 2015a). For present purposes, bioethics is considered distinct from medical ethics, and is primarily construed in terms of the ethical problems raised by research in the life sciences It encompasses the ethical analysis of the actual, potential, and imagined biotechnological advances that such research might, in the future, produce. His is interest in ethical expertise follows from his previous work on the ethics education of UK medical students, the subject of his PhD
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