Epidemiological models and the role of the expert

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the attention of an extremely large audience a range of issues having to do with scientific modelling. In such a particularly critical period worldwide, different models of the pandemic have been competing to give the best representation of the disease, its spread, its clinical treatment and prospects. On the one hand, epidemiological models have shown the great capacity of quick reaction, strong commitment to research for the public good, and fruitful cross-national collaboration between scientists all over the globe. On the other hand, and especially in the first phases of the emergency, the presence of various tentative explanatory hypotheses has questioned the soundness of medical understanding and, hence, the relation between science and policy-making decisions. Considering the import and intertwinement of epistemic and non-epistemic components in the modelling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the present contribution addresses the roles of the expert and expertise in times of crises and investigates what lessons can be drawn, also for the future, from the recent philosophical debate on democratic science and public trust in science.