Expanding epistemic public trust

What role for expert-lay communication?

Abstract

This paper examines how communication between experts and lay citizens influences the development of criteria for epistemic public trust, building upon the detailed framework proposed by Irzik and Kurtulmus (2019). We first analyse the epistemic significance of trust and its implications in the public sphere. Our focus is twofold: identifying what attributes make experts trustworthy and exploring the reasons and second-order evidence that lay people can utilize to justify their trust in experts. We argue that the way experts engage in argumentation plays a crucial role: it is essential for their epistemic responsibility towards lay citizens and serves as a key indicator of their trustworthiness. Based on these considerations, we suggest an additional criterion for experts – facilitating rather than hindering the public discussion. Using an example from expert and layperson discussions during the COVID-19 pandemic, we demonstrate how this criterion can be practically applied.