Expertise as a mean for building trust

Abstract

The paper examines expertise as an epistemic and social practice that fosters trust in the face of information instability and digital noise. We analyze philosophical foundations of expertise drawing on the concepts of epistemic virtue (L. Zagzebski) and the social nature of knowledge (R. Rorty). A distinction between the cognitive, epistemic, expert, and ethical levels of expert knowledge is made. We explain why genuine expertise is impossible without the subject’s personal responsibility as well as without the recognition of corresponding judgments as trustworthy. In the contemporary society, experts are seen not simply as bearers of knowledge, but as participants in a public space where their knowledge must be recognized as authentic and meaningful.