Use of expert knowledge, not its discovery, is properly a democratic decision

Evidence

Albert Einstein captured the essential difference between epistemic authority and political authority in his caution about the role of expertise in democracy: “Into the village square we must carry the facts of atomic energy.… The nuclear age directly concerns every person in the civilized world.… Choices about survival depend ultimately on decisions made in the village square.” His point is not that citizens should be participants in nuclear physics research but rather that the use of the technology—the annihilating weapon physicists created—is properly a democratic decision. The same caution applies to the place of expertise in ordinary as well as extraordinary matters. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 271

Categorization

• XREF: The epistemic-vs-political authority split echoes Habermas’s technocracy discussion and the technology-assessment literature. — connects to: Defending experts does not entail granting them authority over political decisions — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 270; Expert knowledge use in politics is a democratic decision; Leaders may hold different knowledge but must not impose it on the people. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 436 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Expert knowledge use in politics is a democratic decision #corroborates (0.95)
• Leaders may hold different knowledge but must not impose it on the people. #corroborates (0.80) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 436
• Trust as knowledge cannot be morally required #qualifies (0.72) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 373