Democratic Education and the Controversy over the Laws of Controversy

This contribution is concerned with the discussion of adequate criteria that can be used to justify which politically relevant topics should or should not be taught and discussed as controversial in state schools, i.e., with an open outcome and with reference to a spectrum of equally legitimately defensible positions. Starting from a reconstruction of the international controversy over controversial issues, two of the most important criteria that have been put forward for the classification and delimitation of controversial or noncontroversial topics will be examined. It will be argued that these criteria the epistemic criterion and the criterion of political authenticity can fulfill the normative and epistemic functions attributed to them only to a limited extent for teachers and students and are therefore in need of revision. Along the lines of this diagnosis an alternative framework for dealing with controversial issues is outlined and defended against two objections.