Expert knowledge in the generated risk society: the conceptual aspect

The knowledge society is interpreted as a society of generated risk in the article. The role of expert knowledge in decision-making processes is disclosed. Forms of integration of science into social structures and the new role of science in the pragmatics of decision-making are indicated. The role of procedural rationality in the development of justified expert decisions in the generated risk society is disclosed. To adequately assess the risks, it is necessary to address the possibilities of expert knowledge. A characteristic feature of the knowledge society as a society of generated risk is the expanded scope of democratic procedures for participation in decision-making. The problem of responsibility is shown in the priority positions. In the article, the author shows that the situation of the growing politicisation of science inevitably leads to the idea of the need for a stage of "expert examination", the formation of groups of "symbolic analysts" to conduct additional expert activities that allow reducing risks. The problem of the undeveloped methodology of "expert examination" is indicated as unsolved. The need to address the context and potential of new rationality is revealed. The methodology of an effective expert solution should be oriented towards the potential of procedural rationality. The thesis is substantiated that procedural rationality is based on reflection and a rationally planned attitude towards errors (the method of rationally planned problems and mistakes). The culture of decision-making is interpreted as a constituent and condition of procedural rationality. It is procedural rationality that makes it possible to assess the quality of the solution before the expert decision finds its application. A range of decision-making models has been determined, whose effectiveness in expert decisions is rather high (model of expected practical utility, models of intuitive decision-making, taking into account the connection of intuitive and rational decision-making in the development of adaptation mechanisms). The problem of confidence in the decision made by the expert community is considered, levels of expected confidence are determined. Factors influencing the degree and scale of the lack of confidence in the expert decision are determined. The thesis is substantiated that transdisciplinary forms of obtaining socially reliable knowledge allow reaching a new effective form of expert assessments. The role of implicit knowledge in the expert decision is shown. The thesis about the necessity of the theory of expert knowledge is disclosed; it is shown that the difficulty of creating a theory of this kind is explained by the lack of clarity of the role implicit knowledge plays in the expert decision. The author justifies the idea of the need for formalisation of implicit knowledge as an important condition for creating a theory of expert knowledge.

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