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TRANSDISCIPLINARITYBuilding bridges
between fields of knowledge,facts, people, cultures
San Jos, Costa RicaFebruary 23, 2010
Basarab NICOLESCU
University of Paris 6, Franceand
University Babes-Bolyai
Cluj, Romania
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INTRODUCTION PROBLEMS OF
TERMINOLOGY
!!Words reduction and reductionism extremely ambiguous
!!Scientific reduction: A to B, B to C, C toD, etc.!!Scientific reductionism and philosophical
reductionism
!!Non-reductionism: holism andemergentism!!Ideology of reductionism is distinct from
the scientific reductionism
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-!there is no ONE science :> 8000 scientificdisciplines
-! there is no ONE religion, ONEculture, ONE tongue> 10000 religions and religiousmovements
> 6000 tongues
HOW CAN WE DREAM OF PEACE?
GENERAL CONTEXT of our world:
economical globalization but
accelerated fragmentation of knowledge
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MULTIDISCIPLINARITY: studying a research
topic not in just one discipline but in several
at the same time
INTERDISCIPLINARITY: mainly transfer of
methods from one discipline to another
TRANSDISCIPLINARITY: studying that
which is at once between the disciplines,across the different disciplines, and
beyond all disciplines
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Transdisciplinarity ! word introduced in 1970 byJean Piaget (1896 - 1980)
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Goal :understanding the present world
UNDERSTANDING = KNOWLEDGE+BEING
Finality :unity of knowledge
No opposition between disciplinarity
and transdisciplinarity:
TD is not indisciplinarity
TD! study of the interaction of Objectand Subject
! new knowledge
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LEVELS OF REALITY
Google: 1,400,000 entries!
Levels:
of organization, of integration, oflanguage, of representation, ofinterpretation, of complexity, of
knowledge, of being
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! our experiences!our representations! our descriptions
! our images! our mathematical formulations
REALITY -
that which resists
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REAL
that which is - veiled for ever
REALITY
that which resists - accessible to our knowledge+ trans-subjective dimension
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A UNIFIED THEORY OF LEVELSOF REALITY -
THE TRANSDISCIPLINARYAPPROACH
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METHODOLOGY OFTRANSDISCIPLINARITY3 axioms
1. The ontological axiom
2. The logical axiom
3. The epistemological axiom
Rigourous definition of TD
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THE ONTOLOGICAL AXIOM
OF TRANSDISCIPLINARITY
There are differentlevels of Reality of the Objectand, correspondingly, differentlevels of Reality of the Subject
The key concept of TD level ofReality
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LEVEL OF REALITY
Set of systems invariant under
certain general laws
There is discontinuity between levels
Every level of Reality!
associatedspace-time
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Levels of Reality
of the Object +
Zone of non
-resistance
Restores the
continuity
between levels
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Levels of Reality
of the Subject +
Zone of non-resistance
Edmund Husserl (1859 - 1938)
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TRANS-REALITY
Knowledge is
netherexterior nor interior
HIDDEN THIRD
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Examples
Natural systems:
! quantum level! macrophysical
(classical) level
! cyber-space-time level! superstring level
Social systems:
! individual level! geographical andhistorical community level
(family, nation)
! cyber-space-timecommunity level
! the planetary level
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REALITY-levels of Reality of the Object
- levels of Reality of the Subject
- the Hidden third
!organization! structuring! integration
! confusion! language! representation/interpretation
!ignorance! intelligence! contemplation
!objectivity! subjectivity! complexity!knowledge! understanding! being!materiality! spirituality! non-duality
LEVELS
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The combined action of theontological, logical and
epistemological axioms engenderVALUES
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THE LOGICAL AXIOM
The passage from one level of Reality
to another is insured by the
logic of the included middle
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Stphane Lupasco
(1900-1988)
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Included middle
There exists a
third term
T
which is at the same time
A Non-ASymbolic representation of the
action of included middle logic
A Non-A
T
NR1
NR2
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THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL AXIOM
The structure of the totality of
levels of reality and perception
is a complex structure:
Every level is what it isbecause all the levels exist
at the same time
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The complexity axiom is a modern
form of the old principle of
UNIVERSAL INTERDEPENDENCE
Edgar Morin
(b. 1921)
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TD METHODOLOGY AND
FUSION OF HORIZONS
Hans-Georg Gadamer(1900 - 2002)
What is a dialogue?
What is a team?
All of us we have ourprejudices,
our representations our horizon
The true dialogue when we
suspend (temporary) ourprejudices
Something new can emerge only
then crossing of different levels of
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN CULTURES
AND BETWEEN SPIRITUALITIES-!Technoscience: zone of theObject: necessity of conversion
towards values
-!Cultures and spiritualities: crossall the 3 terms {Object, Subject,
Hidden Third}
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HOMO RELIGIOSUS and
HOMO ECONOMICUS" ! Homo religiosus meaning of life, thesacred, the unseen, higher levels ofReality!
" ! Homo economicus believes in what isseen,observed, measured; profane;just one level of reality; irrational forceof technoscience!
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POLYCRISIS Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin and Anne Brigitte Kern, Terre-Patrie, Seuil, Paris, 1993
Inter-relation of different crisis Irrational, chaotic.!Not just ONE solution!Neglected TD source of polycrisis:!
NON-SEPARABILTYSUBJECT / OBJECT / HIDDEN THIRD
" ! Human(nothing is yet human-centered)!" ! Spiritual(something higher than us source of tolerance and
justice)!" ! Cosmic (the role of life and consciousness on the cosmic
scale)!" ! Logic of the included middle!
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" ! WHAT IS REALITY?!" ! Peirce: The world lives, moves and has in
itself a logic of events, which correspondsto our reason.!
Charles Sanders Peirce
(1839-1914)
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WHAT COULD BE REALLY
SUSTAINABLE?!" ! Environment? Economy? Society?
Education? Politics? Religion?Spirituality? Future? Nation? World order?" No one in itself. All of them are inter
-related.!
" ! TD" The only sustainable system is thecosmic system, in all its dimensions, fromthe quantum particle till the most distantgalaxy, going through the human being.!
" ! EVERY LEVEL OF REALITY SUSTAINSEVERY OTHER LEVEL OF REALITY!
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STANDARD VIEW
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MISPLACED BELIEFS!" ! Reductionism!" ! Binary logic!" ! Disciplinary (mono- , multi- and
interdisciplinary) solutions only!
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MISSING DIMENSIONS OF SF
and SD!" ! Individuallevel of Reality!" ! Cosmic level of Reality!" ! Spiritual level of Reality!
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REALITY IS PLASTIC!" ! We are part of the ordered
movement of Reality!" ! Our freedom: enter or perturb the
movement (will of power anddomination)!
" ! Our responsibility build SustainableFutures in agreement with the overall
movement of Reality!
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Lima de Freitas (1927 1998)
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CONCLUSION
" ! TD is an acceleratorof creativity!
THE HUMAN
-CENTERED
GOVERNANCE
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BIBLIOGRAPHY!Basarab Nicolescu, La
transdisciplinariedad
Manifiesto, UniversidadMundo Real,
Hermosillo, Sonora,
Mexico, 2009
ISBN
978-607-7715-00-9