Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity: Studies in Science, Society and Sustainability PDF
Preview Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity: Studies in Science, Society and Sustainability
Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity is a hallmark of contemporary knowledge production. This book introduces a Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity at the intersec- tion of science, society and sustainability. In light of the ambivalence of the technosciences and the challenge of sustainable development in the Anthro- pocene, 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 uti- lizes 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-r eflexive program of interdisciplinarity conducive to a sustainable future for our knowledge society and contributes to fields such as sustainability science, social ecology, environmental ethics, technology assessment, complex sys- tems, 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. Jan Cornelius Schmidt is Professor of Philosophy at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. History and Philosophy of Technoscience Edited by Alfred Nordmann Visual Representations in Science Concept and Epistemology Nicola Mößner From Models to Simulations Franck Varenne The Reform of the International System of Units (SI) Edited by Nadine de Courtenay, Olivier Darrigol, and Oliver Schlaudt The Past, Present, and Future of Integrated History of Philosophy of Science Edited by Emily Herring, Konstantin S. Kiprijanov, Kevin Jones and Laura M. Sellers Nanotechnology and Its Governance Arie Rip Perspectives on Classification in Synthetic Sciences Unnatural Kinds Edited by Julia Bursten Reflections on the Practice of Physics James Clerk Maxwell’s Methodological Odyssey in Electromagnetism Giora Hon and Bernard Goldstein Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity Studies in Science, Society and Sustainability Jan Cornelius Schmidt Material Hermeneutics Reversing the Linguistic Turn Don Ihde Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity Studies in Science, Society and Sustainability Jan Cornelius Schmidt First published 2022 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business. © 2022 Jan Cornelius Schmidt The right of Jan Cornelius Schmidt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. With the exception of Chapters 1, 2, 8 and Interlude no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Chapters 1, 2, 8 and Interlude of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-1-138-23007-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-11846-8 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-38710-9 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781315387109 Typeset in Sabon by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive) In memory of my father Dr. Wolf-Rüdiger Schmidt Contents Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction: What does the philosophy of interdisciplinarity offer? 1 2 Philosophy and plurality: Providing a classification and clarification of interdisciplinarity 16 3 Politics and research programs: Addressing the knowledge politics of interdisciplinarity 41 4 History and technoscience: Tracing the historical roots of object-oriented interdisciplinarity 55 5 Society and societal problems: Conceptualizing problem- oriented inter- and transdisciplinarity 75 Interlude: On shortcomings of the instrumentalist view 93 6 Ethics and the environment: Engaging with grand environmental challenges of the cultural crisis 102 7 Nature and the sciences: In search of alternative concepts of nature and science 123 viii Contents 8 Technology and the future: Advancing prospective technology assessment 157 References 180 Index 199 Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to the series editor, Alfred Nordmann, for encourag- ing me to finalize this study and for publishing my book as part of the book series “History and Philosophy of Technoscience”. I sincerely thank Susan Keller for her very helpful editing suggestions, careful proofreading, and invaluable linguistic support. I also thank Stephen Poole for providing editorial support and Stefan Gammel for proofreading and providing help with the index. Furthermore, I am indebted to Peter Euler, Robert Frode- man, Armin Grunwald, Michael Hoffmann, Britt Holbrook, Thomas Jahn, Wolfgang Krohn, Wolfgang Liebert, Stephan Lingner, Sabine Maasen, Klaus Mainzer, Alfred Nordmann, Theres Paulsen, Christian Pohl, and Jakob Zinsstag for immensely inspiring and engaging discussions on inter- and transdisciplinarity over the past 20 years. My sincere thanks also go to Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and in particular to the Vice-Pres- ident for Research and Sustainability, Nicole Saenger, for much appreciated financial support. Finally, I am very thankful for the help and patience of the senior editors at Routledge, Bob Langham and Max Novick.
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