Gresham College | Experts in politics: Lessons from Socrates and Aristotle - Melissa Lane @GreshamCollege | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 4 days ago.
Socrates sought to test the expertise of everyone around him: the bombastic know-it-alls, the bashful youths, the confident generals, those (including the enslaved) with unsuspected mathematical competence, the workaday artisans. Aristotle later explored the ways in which expert claims can be made credible to popular judgement.
This lecture considers the role of experts in contributing to public debate in a democracy, bringing Aristotle's work on rhetoric to bear on norms for expert communication and public debate.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
12:01 Socrates' argument for what makes an expert
14:05 Elizabeth Anderson's theory that most scientists are credible, only a few obvious 'crackpots'
15:12 How Socrates tested experts with logic, argued for constant vigilance against fake experts
18:24 Isaiah Berlin's theory of experts as either hedgehogs or foxes
21:22 Contributory expertise vs interactional expertise
22:35 Aristotle on levels of expertise, how general knowledge can be sufficient to judge experts
25:24 How Plato warned against overconfidence in one's expertise
27:11 How cognitives biases affect us all (including experts)
30:20 What Aristotle teaches about how expertise should serve democracy, not overpower it
36:40 A model for dialogue between citizens and experts
38:40 Conclusion - how can we get better at testing experts?
42:13 Q&A Session
This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on 30th May 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
Melissa is Gresham Professor of Rhetoric.
Melissa is an author, lecturer and broadcaster who has received major awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and Lucy Shoe Meritt Residency in Classical Studies at the American Academy of Rome.
The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website:
gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/experts-politics
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support
Website: gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: instagram.com/greshamcollege
Socrates sought to test the expertise of everyone around him: the bombastic know-it-alls, the bashful youths, the confident generals, those (including the enslaved) with unsuspected mathematical competence, the workaday artisans. Aristotle later explored the ways in which expert claims can be made credible to popular judgement.
This lecture considers the role of experts in contributing to public debate in a democracy, bringing Aristotle's work on rhetoric to bear on norms for expert communication and public debate.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
12:01 Socrates' argument for what makes an expert
14:05 Elizabeth Anderson's theory that most scientists are credible, only a few obvious 'crackpots'
15:12 How Socrates tested experts with logic, argued for constant vigilance against fake experts
18:24 Isaiah Berlin's theory of experts as either hedgehogs or foxes
21:22 Contributory expertise vs interactional expertise
22:35 Aristotle on levels of expertise, how general knowledge can be sufficient to judge experts
25:24 How Plato warned against overconfidence in one's expertise
27:11 How cognitives biases affect us all (including experts)
30:20 What Aristotle teaches about how expertise should serve democracy, not overpower it
36:40 A model for dialogue between citizens and experts
38:40 Conclusion - how can we get better at testing experts?
42:13 Q&A Session
This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on 30th May 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
Melissa is Gresham Professor of Rhetoric.
Melissa is an author, lecturer and broadcaster who has received major awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and Lucy Shoe Meritt Residency in Classical Studies at the American Academy of Rome.
The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website:
gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/experts-politics
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support
Website: gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: instagram.com/greshamcollege
