Intra-Scientific Testimony

Abstract Chapter 4 continues the overarching argument that intra-scientific testimony is a vital part of scientific practice by articulating some norms for it. The first one is a Norm of Intra-Scientific Testimony (NIST) according to which a scientist who provides intra-scientific testimony within a scientific collaboration must base it on a contextually determined degree of scientific justification. The focus is then turned from the producer side to the consumer side. The result is a Norm of Intra-Scientific Uptake (NISU). According to NISU, a collaborating scientist receiving intra-scientific testimony should, as a default, believe or accept it insofar as he has contextually adequate warrant for believing that the testimony is properly based on scientific justification. Finally, Gerken argues that these norms partly but centrally contribute to explaining the truth-conduciveness of scientific collaboration. This reflects how intra-scientific testimony is centrally situated in scientific practice.