Epistemological competence as science imperative in the era of global turbulence

author: Oleh Kubalskyi

Urgency of the research. Since information society essentially increases cumulative knowledge, to operate it in full proves to be an impossible task. Under such circumstances, the need for selective knowledge acquisition grounded on certain criteria-based, thematic and argument-involving priorities is becoming ever more important.

Target setting. The era of information society is accompanied not by an increase but rather by a decrease in the general level of information competency in the format of inefficient knowledge operation. This results from both the confusion due to the unprecedented amounts of information and the erosion of the culture of scientific thinking.

 Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Over the previous decade, various aspects of epistemological competency have caught the attention of such researchers as P. Bourdieu, M. Nussbaum, C. O’Connor, J. Weatherall, J. Hochschild, K. Einstein, A. Rutherford. In Ukraine, the most integral analysis of the subjects in question has been provided in the works by V. Levkulych.

 The research objective. The aim of the article is to outline both the significance of epistemological competency for science in the era of social turbulence and the means of its progressive cultivation. The tasks are to comprehend cause and effect relationships underlying the aim mentioned.

 The statement of basic material. The principal thematic, conceptual and argumentation approaches to the problem of epistemological competency in the era of information society and global turbulence have been considered.

Conclusions. The enhanced level of epistemological competency is acquiring the features of a strategic task for the needs of effective science functioning in the present-day format. The achievement of this aim is possible, primarily, due to cultivating critical thinking and analytical skills, the ability to demarcate the epistemological array relying on the principles of objectivity, impartiality, correctness and accordance to existing realities.

 Keywords: information era, epistemological competency, the era of global turbulence, the culture of scientific thinking, epistemological priorities, selective knowledge acquisition.

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