What is an expert?
Experts play an important role in society, but there has been little investigation about the nature of expertise. I argue that there are two kinds of experts: those whose expertise is a function of what they know (epistemic expertise), or what they do (performative expertise). Epistemic expertise is the capacity to provide strong justifications for a range of propositions in a domain, while performative expertise is the capacity to perform a skill well according to the rules and virtues of a practice. Both epistemic and performative experts may legitimately disagree with one another, and the two senses are conceptually and logically distinct.
Center for Health Ethics and Law, West Virginia University, Morgantown 26506.
B D
BD
Weinstein
D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D010820:Physicians