ABSTRACT
There can be experts in astronomy, in engineering, in mathematics, and in chemistry. Intuitively, no one really challenges this. If I want to know something about astronomy, say, the number of rings circling Saturn, I will ask an astronomer or consult a book written by an astronomer, because astronomers are experts in the relevant area. When the astronomer tells me, “Seven ring groups and thousands of smaller rings,” I am justified in believing her. Given the belief is true, then I have acquired some knowledge that I did not have before. I have acquired the true belief that Saturn has seven ring groups in a justified manner, on the basis of expert testimony. Of course, experts are not infallible. But justification does not require infallibility, it simply requires reliability, and the astronomer is a reliable source of information about the planets. This chapter investigates whether it makes equal sense to speak of moral experts and in what sense one might be a moral expert.
