Experts in Science and Society

Description

In today's complex world, we have come to rely increasingly on those who have expertise in specific areas and can bring their knowledge to bear on crucial social, political and scientific questions. Taking the viewpoint that experts are consulted when there is something important at stake for an individual, a group, or society at large, Experts in Science and Society explores expertise as a relational concept. How do experts balance their commitment to science with that to society? How does a society actually determine that a person has expertise? What personal traits are valued in an expert? From where does the expert derive authority? What makes new forms of expertise emerge? These and related questions are addressed from a wide range of areas in order to be inclusive, as well as to demonstrate similarities across areas. Likewise, in order to be culturally comparative, this volume includes examples and discussions of experts in different countries and even in different time periods. The topics include the roles of political experts, scientific experts, medical experts, legal experts, and more. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Scientists as Expert Advisors: Science Cultures Versus National Cultures?....Pages 3-25 Experts’ Discourses as Judicial Drama or Bureaucratic Coordination: Family Debate in the United States and Germany....Pages 27-46 The Integration of Social Science Expertise Into the Political Process: Did It Actually Happen?....Pages 47-63 Socialist Legal Experts: A New Profession?....Pages 65-81 Folklore Protection in Australia: Who Is Expert in Aboriginal Tradition?....Pages 85-103 The Humane Expert: The Crisis of Modern Medicine During the Weimar Republic....Pages 105-122 Expertise Not Wanted: The Case of the Criminal Law....Pages 123-158 Air Pollution Control: Who Are the Experts?....Pages 159-177 The Philosopher as Coach....Pages 181-199 Who Decides the Worth of an Arm and a Leg? Assessing the Monetary Value of Nonmonetary Damage....Pages 201-213 The Expert in a Historical Context: The Case of Venetian Politics....Pages 215-228 Mapping Urban Nature: Bio-Ecological Expertise and Urban Planning....Pages 231-248 How to Improve the Diagnostic Inferences of Medical Experts....Pages 249-268 Statistical Scientific Evidence and Expertise in the Courtroom....Pages 269-279 The Authority of Representations....Pages 281-301 Back Matter....Pages 303-314