Scientific expertise and public opinion
Adult Education Centre and Chemnitz University of Technology: Lecture on 23 January, 1.45 pm, Reichenhainer Straße 70, B-Bau, Room B/101
On Tuesday, 23 January, from 1.45 to 3.15 pm, the Chemnitz Adult Education Centre and the Chair of Political Theory and History of Ideas at Chemnitz University of Technology invite you to a public lecture entitled "From Oppenheimer to Drosten - scientific expertise and public opinion". The lecture will take a historical look at the question of why the value of expert opinions is currently the subject of much debate.
Participation is free of charge. Registration is possible by telephone on 0371 488 4343 or online at https://www.vhs-chemnitz.de/kurs/W2310300.
Scientific expertise is more important than ever in current debates. Anyone claiming a legitimate position in political debates, for example, must be able to refer to scientific facts or expert opinions. This gives certain specialisms or individuals a privileged position in the public eye. They are heard and their word carries weight. In this respect, scientific expertise can become a means of stabilising public opinion on the one hand, but also of marginalising undesirable opinions on the other. If, on the other hand, experts themselves express opinions that are politically undesirable, they can quickly be degraded. This is illustrated by the American physicist Robert Oppenheimer (1904 to 1967), among others.
In his lecture, Prof. Dr Caspar Hirschi will trace the history of this development in the 20th and 21st centuries, focusing in particular on the significance of scientific expertise for democracy. The speaker is a historian and Professor of General History at the University of St. Gallen as well as an expert on the history of intellectuals.