Between scientism and relativism: epistemic competence as an important aim in science and philosophy education

There is an ongoing cultural struggle regarding the reach and boundaries of science. Central questions discussed in this debate are for example: What is the essence of natural science? Is its claim for epistemic superiority justified?

As the dispute is not only academic but lies behind several life-world relevant issues as well, we believe that it is essential both to science education and philosophy education. As the topic is inherently interdisciplinary, we claim that the didactics of science and philosophy should work jointly to establish a model of epistemic competence and develop concepts that facilitate such a model. We make a proposal for the structure of epistemic competence as a basis for discussion.