Expertise in research ethics: Is there any such thing?

Abstract

In this paper, I consider the question of whether there is such a thing as ‘expertise in research ethics’. I discuss first the issue of expertise in ethics more generally. There is quite a lot of resistance to the idea that there are ethics experts, for reasons which I will raise and respond to. I outline two different views of what might be counted as expertise in ethics, and argue that only one of these is defensible. But the defensible view is also a useful view. Ethics expertise in this sense does exist. It is a set of generic analytic skills and knowledge of ideas and logical processes. Expertise in research ethics is a particular type of ethics expertise, and I give a brief account of what it includes, and how it differs from ethics expertise in general. I end with the suggestion that people with such expertise would be useful members of Human Research Ethics Committees, and steps ought to be taken to increase the likelihood that they become members. This may or may involve adding the category of ‘ethicist’ to the list of HREC membership categories.