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Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity: Problem‐Feeding, Conceptual Drift, and Methodological Migration

Thorén, Henrik LU and Persson, Johannes LU orcid (2011) 3rd Biennial Conference of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, SPSP
Abstract
One way to bring order into the often muddled picture we have of interdisciplinarity is to sort interdisciplinary projects or aims by the kinds of element that interact in encounters between researchers of the two or more disciplines involved. This is not the usual approach. Since the early seventies and the publication of Erich Jantsch (1972), at least, the level of integration of the disciplines has been the primary focus. For instance, the level of integration is often treated as the distinguishing boundary between multi‐, inter‐, and trans‐disciplinarity. We identify three kinds of interdisciplinary relation: problem‐feeding, conceptual drift, and methodological migration; we focus, in particular, on the first of these. Drawing on... (More)
One way to bring order into the often muddled picture we have of interdisciplinarity is to sort interdisciplinary projects or aims by the kinds of element that interact in encounters between researchers of the two or more disciplines involved. This is not the usual approach. Since the early seventies and the publication of Erich Jantsch (1972), at least, the level of integration of the disciplines has been the primary focus. For instance, the level of integration is often treated as the distinguishing boundary between multi‐, inter‐, and trans‐disciplinarity. We identify three kinds of interdisciplinary relation: problem‐feeding, conceptual drift, and methodological migration; we focus, in particular, on the first of these. Drawing on examples from the emerging field of Sustainability Science we show that problem‐feeding is a common and apparently fruitful way of connecting disparate disciplines. We illustrate some of the roles conceptual drift and methodological migration have in problem‐feeding as well as in their own right. Towards the end of the paper we suggest that there is an interesting difference between our approach to interdisciplinarity and the integrative perspective suggested by Jantsch. The interdisciplinarity resulting from problem‐feeding between researchers is typically local and temporary; integration is associated with a longer‐term, global form of interdisciplinarity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
theory change, philosophy of science, interdisciplinarity, sustainability science, problem-feeding, scientific integration
host publication
PhilSci Archive
pages
20 pages
conference name
3rd Biennial Conference of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, SPSP
conference dates
2011-06-22 - 2011-06-24
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e1a9c4ac-b92f-48a7-948c-b412c7c7fd17 (old id 1978181)
alternative location
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/8670/
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 13:56:23
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:17:18
@inproceedings{e1a9c4ac-b92f-48a7-948c-b412c7c7fd17,
  abstract     = {{One way to bring order into the often muddled picture we have of interdisciplinarity is to sort interdisciplinary projects or aims by the kinds of element that interact in encounters between researchers of the two or more disciplines involved. This is not the usual approach. Since the early seventies and the publication of Erich Jantsch (1972), at least, the level of integration of the disciplines has been the primary focus. For instance, the level of integration is often treated as the distinguishing boundary between multi‐, inter‐, and trans‐disciplinarity. We identify three kinds of interdisciplinary relation: problem‐feeding, conceptual drift, and methodological migration; we focus, in particular, on the first of these. Drawing on examples from the emerging field of Sustainability Science we show that problem‐feeding is a common and apparently fruitful way of connecting disparate disciplines. We illustrate some of the roles conceptual drift and methodological migration have in problem‐feeding as well as in their own right. Towards the end of the paper we suggest that there is an interesting difference between our approach to interdisciplinarity and the integrative perspective suggested by Jantsch. The interdisciplinarity resulting from problem‐feeding between researchers is typically local and temporary; integration is associated with a longer‐term, global form of interdisciplinarity.}},
  author       = {{Thorén, Henrik and Persson, Johannes}},
  booktitle    = {{PhilSci Archive}},
  keywords     = {{theory change; philosophy of science; interdisciplinarity; sustainability science; problem-feeding; scientific integration}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity: Problem‐Feeding, Conceptual Drift, and Methodological Migration}},
  url          = {{http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/8670/}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}