The necessity of transscientific frameworks for doing interdisciplinary research

• Published in: Kybernetes 2006-03, Vol.35 (3/4), p.403-425
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cybernetics; Information science; Scientific management
• ISSN: 0368-492X
• DOI: 10.1108/03684920610653700

Purpose The purpose of this theoretical research paper in philosophy and theory of science is to argue for the necessity of developing transdisciplinary frameworks in order to be able to interact in an interdisciplinary fashion. Designmethodologyapproach Reflects on interdisciplinarity and the prerequisites of doing scientific and scholarly research and develops a nonreductionistic and transdisciplinary view on human knowing in the light of the growing development of interdisciplinary practices and sciences. Findings It is argued that there is at present an incompatibility between scientific and phenomenological approaches to cognition and communication. A broader framework is, therefore, needed to encompass both, if one wants to make coherent theories and models in this subject area. The work, therefore, focuses on the relation between information science and semiotics and creates a framework for the analysis of both meaning and truth. Research limitationsimplications The framework is very abstract here in the description. It has to be developed in detail and its effect demonstrated in practical examples. Practical implications They have to be judged both on how well their descriptions fit better than others with what actually goes on in the sciences and humanities and on their usefulness to function as a common map coordinating interdisciplinary work. Originalityvalue A transscientific framework, which is suggested as a basis for the sciences and humanities to understand themselves in relation to other kinds of knowledge such as philosophy, art, religion, political ideology, etc. New also are the visual structural models.