Ponencia del curso de formación: "La Universidad frente a un mundo complejo - estrategias científicas y docentes para confrontar la complejidad", Universidad de León, 15 de mayo de 2013

1. Transdisciplinarity by complexity thinking
Wolfgang Hofkirchner
Associate Professor, Vienna University of Technology
President, 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

2. Contents
1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
1.2 Naturalism vs. culturalism
2 Four ways of thinking
3 Science

3. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
I monodisciplinarity:
subsumption under
the natural
(reduction)
natural sciences social and human
sciences

4. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
II monodisciplinarity:
subsumption under
the social and human
(projection)
natural sciences social and human
sciences

5. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
IIIa multidisciplinarity:
addition of independent fields
(disjunction)
+
natural sciences social and human
sciences

6. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
IIIb interdisciplinarity:
"Bindestrichwissenschaft"
(disjunction cum interaction)
natural sciences social and human
sciences

7. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
IV transdisciplinarity:
natural sciences integrated
with social and human
sciences
(integration)
natural sciences social and human
sciences

8. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
natural sciences social and human
sciences
IV transdisciplinarity:
natural sciences integrated
with social and human
sciences
(integration) meta-level
general
specific

9. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
meta-level
general
specific
natural sciences social and human
sciences
IV transdisciplinarity:
natural sciences integrated
with social and human
sciences
(integration)

10. 1.1 Natural sciences and social and human sciences
science of
natural systems
science of
social and human
systems
meta-level
generalIV transdisciplinarity:
natural sciences integrated
with social and human
sciences
(integration)
specific
systems
theory

11. 1.2 Naturalism vs. culturalism
nature culture
naturalismnaturalism
culturalismculturalismculturalismculturalism
emergentist
systemism
emergentist
systemism
culture reduced to nature (monism)culture reduced to nature (monism)
sufficient condition necessary result
culture projected onto nature (monism)culture projected onto nature (monism)
necessary result sufficient condition
culture disjoined from nature (dualism)culture disjoined from nature (dualism)
independent independent
culture integrated with nature (dialectics)culture integrated with nature (dialectics)
necessary condition
contingent emergent,
downward causation

12. 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 difference
projects higher complexity onto
lower complexity identity without difference
disjoins higher complexity from
lower complexity difference without identity
integrates lower with higher
complexity and differentiates
between them unity of identity and difference
2 Four ways of thinking

13. 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
General
System
Theory

14. 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