Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- .See also: Philosophy, specialization and generalization. --- 12/30/2000
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- .This section is about interdisciplinary philosophy. --- 1/24/2006
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- (1) Cross training. (A) Skills in one areas can be transferred to other areas. Use all your types of intelligence. Use your entire head. (B) Knowledge in one area can be used in another. (2) Holism. Everything hangs together. (A) Physical holism. In the real world, things effect each other and depend on each other. (B) Semantic or idea holism. In the world of writing, words have meaning contextually. In the mental world of ideas, ideas have relations to each other. --- 7/24/1999
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- (1) Inter-disciplinary philosophy deals with foundational subjects that are often under-rated or ignored, yet of primary importance: philosophy, psychology, and sociology. (2) Other areas: politics/law, economics/business, science/technology, art/entertainment, history/geography, work/leisure, health/welfare. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- (1) Interdisciplinary philosophy as balanced learning (i.e., amount of time spent learning about all subject areas). (2) Interdisciplinary philosophy as balanced thinking (i.e., amount of time spent thinking about all subject areas). --- 10/23/1993
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- (1) Interdisciplinary philosophy is akin to a non-compartmentalized mind. (2) The opposite of interdisciplinary philosophy is a compartmentalized mind. A compartmentalized mind is pathological, as we see in those people who can murder and then go out to eat. A compartmentalized mind is also inefficient, because it requires each compartment to reinvent the wheel. (3) The non-compartmentalized mind is healthy and efficient. Just as cultures tied together by lines of transportation and communication allow skills and attitudes to migrate from culture to culture, so to does a non-compartmentalized mind allow a free flow of skills and attitudes from one area to another; from one subject to another; from one role to another. --- 8/4/2000
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Arguments against inter-disciplinary philosophy. (1) Advancements require intensive specialized effort. (2) Interdisciplinary philospher as dilettante, amateur, jack of all trades and master of none. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Arguments for inter-disciplinary philosophy. (1) How wide and how deep to dig our pool of knowledge? (2) Renaissance man. (3) A technology for thinking and learning. (4) People specialize too much, and generalize not enough. (5) Multiple perspectives, interdisciplinary relationships. (6) Nothing exists alone. (7) Knowing more about less (specialization) vs. knowing less about more (generalization). (8) The combo view. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- At what peril do I ignore thoughts and action about problems, on the personal, national, and world levels, in all subject areas? At the peril of wasting my life. --- 02/07/1994
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Consider all things from all 26 subject perspectives, for all four perspectives (total, natural, social, individual), using all conceptual categories and methods. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Find the stuff that fell into the gaps between the traditional subject areas. Find the ignored but the important. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Five areas of interdisciplinary philosophy. (1) Notes methods. (2) Notes maps. (3) Situation and system theory. (4) Problem theory and mistake theory. (5) "X in general" method (see psychology, thinking). --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- I am a bridge between (1) The humanities (philosophy, art, music, literature) vs. business and politics vs. science. (2) Also between philosophy and literature. (3) I am in no mans land. --- 03/20/1994
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- I am an interdisciplinary philosopher, an intellectual mutt, an intellectual bumblebee. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Inter-disciplinary philosophy is the view of the intellectual amateur. Be free, and do what you love. --- 09/15/1994
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Inter-disciplinary philosophy takes the strengths of each subject area and leaves the weaknesses. It takes truth where you find it, and applies truth where needed. IP is pluralist, eclectic, and multicategoried. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosophers are generalists, not specialists. --- 5/6/2002
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosophy (IP) is really mental cross-training. --- 07/30/1993
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosophy is a managers approach, a situation approach, and a problem approach. A manager walks into a complex situation, and identifies what types of problems (economic, political, tech, etc.) we have, and figures out how to improve it. --- 11/02/1993
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosophy means you can work on any subject using any methodology (philosophy, science, art). --- 2/28/2004
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosophy studies all things from all perspectives. Take any object, like a paper clip for example. One can study the history of paper clips, the technology of paper clips, the economics of paper clips, the social impact of paper clips, etc. --- 1/15/2005
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosphy = the big picture = world view. --- 02/20/1994
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Interdisciplinary philosphy is a way of thinking. (1) What to think about: 26 category framework. (2) How to think about it: x in general method. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- IP in academia. (1) The structure of academia changes over time. The subjects that are taught in academia today are different from the subjects taught in academia 300 years ago. In additon, today the rate of change of society is increasing compared to the rate of change hundreds of years ago. Therefore, identify and take part in newly emerging subject areas (NESA's). Be forward, not backward, in your approach to academia. That is, be future-oriented, not past-oriented, in your approach to academic subject areas. (2) New phenomena emerge in the world and need to be studied. New technologies emerge. New problems for civilization emerge. New ideas emerge. The world is changing, not static. Society is changing, not static. Thus, academia is changing, not static. (3) Many of the newly emerging academic subject areas make their initial appearance as "interdisciplinary" subjects, for example, environmental science, international development, and cognitive science. --- 3/15/2007
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- IP in academia. One argument for interdisciplinary studies is that everything in the world is connected and interdependent. That view is a type of metaphysical holism. Therefore, our knowledge of the world is interconnected. That view is a type of epistemological holism. Therefore, academia should be interconnected. --- 3/22/2007
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- IP in academia. PART ONE. The 21st century is a time of great change. One example of change in the 21st is the increasing rate of development of promising technologies such as computers and bioengineering. Another example of change in the 21st century is the negative impact of humans on the natural environment. PART TWO. Changes in worldwide opportunities and challenges leads to changes in what society recognizes and values. Today, society recognizes that the problems of the world often have multiple inter-related causes and multiple inter-related effects. Society today values a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving. PART THREE. Changes in what society recognizes and values leads to changes in what academia recognizes and values. Academia is changing, slowly but surely. Academia is changing in the structure of the subjects that it pursues. Academia is also changing in the mechanism it uses to pursue knowledge. For example, the structure and mechanism of academia is changing due to recent developments in technology, globalization, and the environment. PART FOUR. As academia changes, new areas of study emerge, and some older areas of study fade. One way to describe the field of interdisciplinary studies is as a transition to newly emerging areas of study. One reason I am interested in interdisciplinary studies is because I am interested in newly emerging areas of study. --- 5/14/2007
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- IP means (1) Use all your abilities. (2) Think with your whole brain. (3) Know about everything. --- 4/29/2001
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- People, in order to get their goals, often focus in tightly, to the point where all they see is the goal and nothing else exists. They do this serially throughout their lives and thus never take the time to (1) Develop the big picture, and (2) Explore, or even just drift aimlessly. (That is, unless their specific goal is to do 1 or 2). Thus, the key is to have balance between the special and general. Many people have excess or lack either way. --- 10/25/1994
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Reasons for interdisciplinary philosophy. (1) At any moment your mind may be perfectly set up to solve any problem or get any idea. (2) Any individual, through any combination of heredity and environment, may be perfectly set up to solve any problem or get any idea, or perform any act. --- 11/20/1993
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- The interdisciplinary philosophy personality fits in everywhere and nowhere. Inter-group hovering. --- 04/12/1994
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- The purpose of interdisciplinary philosophy is to develop a cross-disciplinary vocabulary and cross disciplinary conversations, so that we do not have to re-invent each others wheels. IP is about breaking down barriers. IP is about sharing. --- 2/2/1999
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- We need more interdisciplinary philosophy (IP). There is not enough inter-subject understanding. (1) Important results that could be found if "Two heads were put together" are not being found because they are separate. (2) Methods that could be fruitfully transferred across disciplines are not. (3) Ideas that could be transferred are not. (4) Similar findings are not being reported and read by different groups. (5) Similar conclusions are being reached, but not communicated because of different subject language vocabularies. They do not understand each other. There is not enough inter-school (and inter-nation, and inter-language) understanding for the same reasons. --- 12/01/1993
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- What is inter-disciplinary philosophy? Three definitions. (1) A philosophy of education. (2) A technique for thinking. (3) Systematic broadscale thinking. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Who is going to put together the economic, political, philosophical, etc., information in order to make decisions and solve problems? Inter-disciplinary philosophy is a leaders philosophy. Inter-disciplinary philosophy is a managers philosophy. --- 04/30/1993
Philosophy, interdisciplinary philosophy. --- Why people do not want to look at everything, including themselves. (1) Anticipatory fear. (2) Actual pain. (3) Feeling overwhelmed. --- 06/10/1997