The Undecidable Grounds of Scientific Expertise: Science Education and the Limits of Intellectual Independence

Motivated by the work of Hardwig (1985, 1991) on epistemic dependence and trust in expertise, we enquire into the nature and extent of the critical assessment that non‐scientists can make—and that they should be taught to make—with regard to science. Our thesis is that critical assessment of science is possible for non‐experts because at the basis of science is a set of norms, beliefs and values that are contestable by non‐scientists. These norms, beliefs and values are of critical importance to science education and valuable to explore from a pedagogical perspective.