Transdisciplinarity by complexity thinking

Wolfgang HofkirchnerAssociate Professor, Vienna University of TechnologyPresident, Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (www.bcsss.org)President Elect, International Society for Information Studies (www.is4is.org)

15 – 17 May 2013, Universidad de León

Contents

1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences1.2 Naturalism vs. culturalism

2 Four ways of thinking

3 Science

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

I monodisciplinarity:subsumption underthe natural(reduction)

natural sciences social and humansciences

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

II monodisciplinarity:subsumption underthe social and human(projection)

natural sciences social and humansciences

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

IIIa multidisciplinarity:addition of independent fields(disjunction)

+

natural sciences social and humansciences

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

IIIb interdisciplinarity:"Bindestrichwissenschaft"(disjunction cum interaction)

natural sciences social and humansciences

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

IV transdisciplinarity:natural sciences integrated with social and human sciences(integration)

natural sciences social and humansciences

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

natural sciences social and humansciences

IV transdisciplinarity:natural sciences integrated with social and human sciences(integration) meta-level

general

specific

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

meta-level

general

specificnatural sciences social and human

sciences

IV transdisciplinarity:natural sciences integrated with social and human sciences(integration)

1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences

science ofnatural systems

science of social and human

systems

meta-level

generalIV transdisciplinarity:natural sciences integrated with social and human sciences(integration)

specific

systemstheory

1.2 Naturalism vs. culturalism

nature culture

naturalismnaturalism

culturalismculturalismculturalismculturalism

emergentist systemismemergentist systemism

culture reduced to nature (monism)culture reduced to nature (monism)sufficient condition necessary resultculture projected onto nature (monism)culture projected onto nature (monism)necessary result sufficient conditionculture disjoined from nature (dualism)culture disjoined from nature (dualism)independent independentculture integrated with nature (dialectics)culture integrated with nature (dialectics)

necessary conditioncontingent emergent, downward causation

ways of thinking

reductionism

projectivism

disjunctivism

integrativism

relationship between lower and higher complexity

relationship between identity and difference; unification or diversification

reduces higher complexity to lower complexity

identity without differenceprojects higher complexity onto lower complexity identity without differencedisjoins higher complexity from lower complexity difference without identityintegrates lower with higher complexity and differentiates between them unity of identity and difference

2 Four ways of thinking

3 Science

philosophy

real-world sciences

natural sciences (physics incl. cosmology, chemistry, biology, part of psychology, etc.)

formal sciences (logics, mathe-matics)

social and human sciences

general

specific

engineering, applied or technological sciences as well as arts(e.g. computer and information science)

science of contemporary society

GeneralSystemTheory

systems philosophy

formal systems science(methodo-logy)

science of real-world systems

science of material (physi-cal) systems

science of living (biotic) systems

science of human(social) systems

general

specific

science of artificial systems design

science of the world system in statu nascendi

3 Science