Gabriele Contessa on “Public Trust in Science: A Communitarian Approach”

According to the individualistic approach to public trust in science, it is primarily individuals who trust (or mistrust) science, while communities trust science only in a derivative sense. In this talk, I argue that the individualistic approach faces several serious challenges and should be rejected in favour of a communitarian approach. On the communitarian approach, it is primarily communities, rather than individuals, that trust science, while individuals trust science only in a derivative sense. The talk distinguishes three senses in which communities can be taken to be the primary trustors, and then outlines my preferred communitarian account of public trust in science—the infrastructural account.

Gabriele Contessa (Carleton University)

To join the session on Teams, please get in touch with Maria Grazia Rossi at mgrazia.rossi@fcsh.unl.pt for the details.

This event is part of the ArgLab Research Colloquium organised by Maria Grazia Rossi and Giulia Terzian at the Laboratory of Argumentation, Cognition and Language of the NOVA Institute of Philosophy. For any inquiries, please contact Maria Grazia or Giulia.