Theory and Practice in the Interdisciplinary Production and Reproduction of Scientific Knowledge : ID in the XXI Century

This book addresses the urgent need for a large and systematic analysis of current interdisciplinary (ID) research and practice. It demonstrates how ID is essentially a cognitive phenomenon, something different from the frivolous and inconsequential attempt of trying to overcome the disciplinary competencies and exigencies. By ID, the authors show that it is a manifestation of the transversal rationality that underlies current scientific activity. It is the very progress of specialized disciplines that requires interdisciplinary new research practices and new forms of articulation between domains, something that has a strong impact on the traditional disciplinary structure of scientific and educational institutions. Divided into two parts, the book presents a conceptual framework as well as several case studies on ID practices. The book aims at covering three main themes. It contributes to the stabilization of ID meaning and characterizes the main ID theorizations which have been proposed until now. It builds an innovative and broad understanding of the several ID determinations as an essentially cognitive phenomenon and of its institutional implications at the level of disciplinary structures and curricular organization. Finally, it distinguishes and maps the diversity of ID procedures and practices which are being used and tested by contemporary scientific and educational institutions. This book is addressed to philosophers, scientists and every one interested in science production and reproduction, including science teaching. Acknowledgments About This Book Introduction Part I: Theoretical Approaches to Interdisciplinarity Part II: Practices of Interdisciplinarity References Contents Contributors Part I: Theoretical Approaches to Interdisciplinarity Chapter 1: The Fundamental Cognitive Destiny of Interdisciplinarity 1.1 I. The Word 1.1.1 The Birth of the Word 1.1.2 Contexts of Use 1.1.3 Defining Requirements 1.1.4 The Central Role of the Concept of Discipline 1.1.5 Definition Proposal 1.2 II. From the Word to What It Trys to Name 1.2.1 First Determination: Specialization and Its Costs 1.2.1.1 Cultural and Heuristic Costs 1.2.1.2 Institutional Costs 1.2.2 Second Determination: The Appeal of Complexity 1.2.3 Third Determination: Quest for Unity 1.2.3.1 Unity of Science Programs References Chapter 2: Disentangling Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity: The Beauty of Differing Definitions 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Methodology 2.3 Findings 2.4 Definitions Most Used in the Literature 2.5 Problematization of Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity 2.6 Modes and Logics of Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity 2.7 Discussion 2.8 Conclusions References Chapter 3: Back to the Discipline: For a Future Interdisciplinarity 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Criticisms of the Naïve Conception of ID 3.2.1 The Fallacy of Recomposition 3.2.2 Normative and Hierarchical Enthusiasm 3.2.3 Epistemological Dead End 3.2.4 Interdisciplinary Rhetoric Is Counterproductive 3.3 A Reliable Conception of Disciplines 3.3.1 Disciplines Are Epistemic Actors 3.3.2 Disciplines Are Not Silos46 3.3.3 Recognizing and Allowing for the Heterogeneity of Interactions 3.4 The Revaluation of Disciplines Is Useful for Policy-Making 3.5 Conclusion References Chapter 4: Super-Contemporaneity (The Regime of Creation Beyond Transdisciplinary Innovation) 4.1 The Transdisciplinary Innovation Paradox 4.2 Fractal Borders of Creation 4.3 Thinking Generic Diversality 4.4 Undecidability and the Meaning of Optative Part II: Practices of Interdisciplinarity Chapter 5: Interactions Towards Interdisciplinarity at School: The Case of a Physics Teacher at a Public Teacher Education High School 5.1 Theoretical Introduction 5.2 Methodology 5.2.1 From the Interview to the Episodes 5.3 The Episodes 5.4 Final Considerations References Chapter 6: Interdisciplinarity in the View of Researchers in the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Programme in Human Rights at the Federal Universitiy of Goiás (PPGIDH-UFG): A Case Study 6.1 The Text and Self-Investigation 6.2 The Initiatives and the Graduate Program 6.3 Teaching Planning and Practices 6.4 Testimonials and Teaching Impressions 6.5 One Subject, Three Professors, Several Students and the Other 6.6 Intersections and Reflections 6.7 Final Considerations References Chapter 7: Interdisciplinary Practice in Education 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Inter and Multidisciplinarity 7.3 Critical Assessment 7.4 Desires and Needs 7.5 Conclusion References Chapter 8: How MSH Design Interdisciplinarity. Testimony of an Active Director 8.1 A Labelling Committee 8.2 A Structure Depositary of the Principle of Interdisciplinarity 8.3 The MSH: A Singular Structure 8.4 The Invention of MSH 8.5 Opinions and Feelings 8.6 Disciplines and SHS 8.7 MSH as μηχανή 8.8 Transmission and Random Access Memories 8.9 The “Marginal Sequent” References Chapter 9: Interdisciplinarity in Cognitive Science and the Nature of Cognition 9.1 Introduction 9.2 ID and Cognition 9.2.1 An ID Perspective 9.2.2 Cognition and ID 9.3 The Nature of Cognition 9.3.1 Computational Neuroscience 9.3.2 4E Cognition 9.3.3 Predictive Processing (PP) 9.4 Changes in Metaphysics, Changes in ID? 9.4.1 ID and Cognitive Neuroscience 9.4.2 Remodeling ID in 4E Cognitive Science 9.4.3 What May ID Look Like in Predictive Processing? 9.5 Conclusion References Chapter 10: The Utopia of Interdisciplinarity: A View from Economics 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The Demand for More Interdisciplinarity in the Study of the Economy 10.3 What Kind of Interdisciplinarity? 10.4 Economics: A Multiparadigm Discipline 10.5 The Significance of Integrating Concepts and Common Interpretative Frameworks: The Case of Uncertainty 10.6 Conclusion References Chapter 11: The Crowd – A Boundary Object in Social Sciences 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Serge Moscovici 11.3 Pierre Bourdieu 11.4 Overview 11.5 The Debate 11.6 Final Remarks References Chapter 12: Role of IT Solution Design in Food Labelling. Ethics, Communication and Interdisciplinarity on the Test Bench 12.1 On Communication 12.2 Communication, Ethics of Relationships in the Food Sector 12.3 A Synoptic Look at the Factors of the Ethics and Food Connection 12.4 User-Consumer Behaviour 12.5 Definitions and Functions of Food Labelling 12.6 Traceability 12.7 The Food Label – Consumer Interaction 12.8 Food Label as a Relational Hinge 12.9 Food Label Communication 12.10 IT Solution Design: An Experiential Approach 12.11 Inclusive Design 12.12 Conclusion References Chapter 13: Signs of Interdisciplinarity in the Second Half of the XX Century and Prospects for the XXI Century 13.1 New Kinds of Disciplines and Disciplinary Arrangements 13.2 New Problems 13.3 New Practices 13.4 Heuristic Procedures 13.5 New Research Structures 13.6 University and Secondary School 13.7 Three Final Notes on the Idea of Interdisciplinarity References Author Index Subject Index