Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity : Studies in Science, Society and Sustainability

Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction: What does the philosophy of interdisciplinarity offer? Notes Chapter 2: Philosophy and plurality: Providing a classification and clarification of interdisciplinarity Hot topic Richness of the tradition Motives and values Boundaries Distinguishing different types Examples Schools of thought Conclusion and prospects Notes Chapter 3: Politics and research programs: Addressing the knowledge politics of interdisciplinarity Knowledge politics The nanoresearch program Diagnosis Towards a new fundament Underlying assumptions Technological reductionism Technological humanism and the next industrial revolution? Different types of interdisciplinarity A view on theories Are new methods involved? Considering interdisciplinary problems and purposes Focusing on technical objects Critique Summary and prospect Notes Chapter 4: History and technoscience: Tracing the historical roots of object-oriented interdisciplinarity Instrumentalist mindset No man’s land of techno-objects Bacon and the roots of techno-object–oriented interdisciplinarity Aim and motive inherent in Bacon’s concept Practice, method, and genesis Material manifestation, technical works, and the truth of artefacts The core of constructed and created objects: nature as mathematical law Technoscience as object-oriented interdisciplinarity Summary and prospect Notes Chapter 5: Society and societal problems: Conceptualizing problem-oriented inter- and transdisciplinarity Addressing real-world problems The problem with “problems” Wicked problems Proposing an analytic clarification The implicit assumption: internal–external dichotomy Epistemological positions An example from science policy Summary and prospect Notes Interlude: On shortcomings of the instrumentalist view Notes Chapter 6: Ethics and the environment: Engaging with grand environmental challenges of the cultural crisis Environmentalist concept Roots of the crisis Objections Diagnosis—and against the first objection Analysis—and against the second objection Argumentation—and against the third objection Practice and action—and against the fourth objection Prospects: shaping “metaphysics,” building society Notes Chapter 7: Nature and the sciences: In search of alternative concepts of nature and science Self-organizing phenomena Synthesis—a first dimension of critical-reflexive interdisciplinarity Self-organization theories Disregard of instabilities The recognition of instabilities—the core of self-organizing phenomena Characterizing self-organization Critique—a second dimension of critical-reflexive interdisciplinarity Landscape of instabilities Instability as a point of critique—and a challenge to scientific methodology One, critique of experimentability and reproducibility Two, critique of predictability and calculability Three, critique of testability, confirmability, and refutability Four, critique of (reductive) explainability Against the Baconian position Challenging science and philosophy of science Alternative directions of science—a third dimension of critical-reflexive interdisciplinarity Dealing with instabilities Phenomenological-morphological approach Processuality, modelling, and contextualism Critical reflection on agenda setting Problem orientation—a fourth dimension of critical-reflexive interdisciplinarity Summary and prospect Notes Chapter 8: Technology and the future: Advancing prospective technology assessment On the continuous production of pressing problems Extending the scope Normative anchor Synthetic biology – a case study Scrutinizing the visions Deepening the analysis Synthetic biology aims to harness self-organization for technical purposes Synthetic biology as late-modern technology Tracing the technoscientific core Assessing the technoscientific core Summary and prospect Notes References Index "Interdisciplinarity is a hallmark of contemporary knowledge production. This book introduces a Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity at the intersection of science, society, and sustainability. In light of the ambivalence of the technosciences and the challenge of sustainable development in the Anthropocene, this engaged philosophy provides a novel critical perspective on interdisciplinarity in science policy and research practice. It draws upon the original spirit of interdisciplinarity as an environmentalist concept and advocates an essential change in human-nature relations. The author utilizes the rich tradition of philosophy for case study analysis and develops a framework to disentangle the various forms of inter- and transdisciplinarity. Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity offers a foundation for a critical-reflexive program of interdisciplinarity conducive to a sustainable future for our knowledge society and contributes to fields such as sustainable sciences, social ecology, environmental ethics, technology assessment, complex systems, philosophy of nature, and philosophy of science. It injects a fresh way of thinking on interdisciplinarity - and supports researchers as well as science policy makers, university managers, and academic administrators in critical-reflexive knowledge production for sustainable development"-- Provided by publisher Interdisciplinarity is a hallmark of contemporary knowledge production. This book introduces a __Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity__ at the intersection of science, society and sustainability. In light of the ambivalence of the technosciences and the challenge of sustainable development in the Anthropocene, this engaged philosophy provides a novel critical perspective on interdisciplinarity in science policy and research practice. It draws upon the original spirit of interdisciplinarity as an environmentalist concept and advocates an essential change in human-nature relations. The author utilizes the rich tradition of philosophy for case study analysis and develops a framework to disentangle the various forms of inter- and transdisciplinarity. __Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity__ offers a foundation for a critical-reflexive program of interdisciplinarity conducive to a sustainable future for our knowledge society and contributes to fields such as sustainability sciences, social ecology, environmental ethics, technology assessment, complex systems, philosophy of nature, and philosophy of science. It injects a fresh way of thinking on interdisciplinarity – and supports researchers as well as science policy makers, university managers, and academic administrators in critical-reflexive knowledge production for sustainable development.