Scientific Justification as the Basis of Scientific Testimony

Abstract Chapter 3 provides a characterization of scientific testimony that differentiates it from other types of testimony. According to this characterization, scientific testimony is testimony that is properly based on scientific justification. Further specification of this characterization is provided by way of a discussion of some of the central properties of scientific justification. These include its being gradable, its being discursive, and the senses in which it is and is not epistemically superior to non-scientific justification. Likewise, the chapter contains a discussion of what being properly based on scientific justification amounts to. Apart from helping to clarify the nature of scientific testimony, these arguments help to specify why intra-scientific testimony contributes to the epistemic force of collaborative science. Likewise, they help to specify why public scientific testimony may serve as a central epistemic authority in society.