title: Healthy skepticism: the emperor has very few clothes.
abstract: The role of an expert witness in ethics, as part of a legal proceeding, is examined in this essay. The essay argues that the use of such expertise rests on confusions about normative and non-normative ethics compounded by misunderstandings about the challenges of moral argument in secular, morally pluralistic societies.
authors.affiliation: Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 20057, USA.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Wildes
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003709:Democracy; D028781:Ethical Relativism; D026822:Ethicists; D004989:Ethics / Q000145:classification; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D033222:Judicial Role; D019359:Knowledge; D009014:Morals; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010684:Philosophy; D024382:Professional Role; D035621:Secularism; D012945:Social Values / Q000208:ethnology*