John Hardwig is a contemporary American philosopher whose work spans epistemology and bioethics. In epistemology, he is best known for arguing that epistemic dependence on others is fundamental to rational belief, particularly that laypeople are often rationally justified in deferring to expert testimony they cannot independently verify. He also made significant contributions to bioethics, most notably through his controversial argument that individuals may have a duty to die to avoid burdening their families.
Developed an influential account of epistemic dependence, arguing that trust in expert testimony is epistemically rational even without independent verification
Articulated conditions under which testimonial justification can propagate through chains of testimony
Advanced bioethics discourse with 'Is There a Duty to Die?' (1997), arguing family obligations can override the presumption in favor of life-extension
Challenged individualist models of knowledge by foregrounding the social and interpersonal structure of rational belief
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