Changing Expectations of Experts: The Symbolic Role of Ethics Committees

Record number	509374
Title	Changing Expectations of Experts: The Symbolic Role of Ethics Committees
Author(s)	Poort, Lonneke; Bovenkerk, B.
Source	In: Symbolic Legislation Theory and Developments in Biolaw / van Klink, Bart, van Beers, Britta, Poort, Lonneke, Springer (Legisprudence Library ) - ISBN 9783319333632 - p. 269 - 287.
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33365-6_16
Department(s)	Philosophy WASS
Publication type	Peer reviewed book chapter
Publication year	2016
Abstract	Complex policy issues pose a conundrum for liberal democratic governments. Disagreement about complex policy issues can often be traced back to fundamental value differences and governments aim to avoid heavy political conflicts based on these, while at the same time they face the need for expedient decision making. One solution is to seek advice of or even defer decisions to expert committees, in particular ethics committees. In this paper, we focus on the role of ethics committees by putting the role of ethicists as experts up for discussion. We argue that governments and the public foster wrong expectations regarding the role and mandate of ethics committees. Normative expertise is essentially different from scientific expertise. Lumping them together has resulted in false expectations and an overvaluation of the role of various types of experts. It is therefore necessary to explicate the roles the various players have and to define what is to be expected from them.

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