Professionals, like all experts, play a slightly paradoxical role in democracies: as citizens, they are equals, but when it comes to their professional skills and knowledge, they have authority over lay people. This tension needs to be carefully managed – not only by professionals themselves, but also by society as a whole and the way in which it creates space for and relates to professional communities.
The orientation towards democratic values needs to be a central part of professional ethics, in addition to the specific values of different professions. This is particularly important in times of democratic fragility, in which not only the authority of experts, but also the legitimacy of experts, are no longer generally accepted.
While some commentators call for technocratic or expertocratic alternatives to democracy, Herzog defends the value of democracy, and argues for a specific responsibility of professionals and their associations for holding up democratic values.
About the speaker
Professor Lisa Herzog (rug.nl) is Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Groningen.
She received her PhD from the University of Oxford in 2011. Her thesis was published as "Inventing the Market. Smith, Hegel, and Political Theory" (global.oup.com).
She completed her habilitation at Goethe University Frankfurt, which was published as "Reclaiming the System. Moral Responsibility, Divided Labour, and the Role of Organizations in Society" (global.oup.com).
Research interests
Herzog's research interests lie within the field of political and economic philosophy, with arguments based on social science research and history.
She regularly participates in public debates surrounding questions of justice and has reached a wide German audience with books such as "Freiheit gehört nicht nur den Reichen. Plädoyer für einen zeitgemäßen Liberalismus" (In German only - chbeck.de) and "Die Rettung der Arbeit. Ein Politischer Aufruf" (In German only - hanser-literaturverlage.de).
The latter, which explores how work as a meaningful activity can be "saved" in the digital age, has won several prestigious academic awards.
Together with Axel Honneth, she has also edited a comprehensive historical anthology on the market as an institution, "Der Wert des Marktes" (suhrkamp.de).
Political epistemology
Herzog's latest book is "Citizen Knowledge: Markets, Experts, and the Infrastructure of Democracy" (academic.oup.com).
The book is a contribution to the research field of "political epistemology", which examines the interaction between knowledge and political institutions and practices.
Against the current backdrop of fake news and lack of trust in expertise, she analyses three mechanisms for the dissemination and use of knowledge - markets, expert communities and democratic deliberation - and the epistemological prerequisites for well-functioning democratic governance.
