The non-trivial problem of cross-disciplinary science and the structure of scientific perspectives

Summary

There has been a long interest in the relation between science and other ways of knowing, and in paradigm shifts in the history of single disciplines. This presentation will discuss the role of different perspectives and ‘ways of knowing’ within science, across different disciplines and schools of thought. It will focus on the problematic aspects of crossdisciplinary research that are non-trivial, in that they are not about power or conflicts of interests, but about deeper differences in our means of observing and learning – about the structure of scientific perspectives. The scientific production of knowledge grows by way of functional differentiation and specialization, and this gives rise to knowledge asymmetries that are deeply problematic when we need science to help solve complex, real-world problems. The paradox of scientific expertise is that the growth of science leads to fragmentation of scientific expertise. Science cannot be re-integrated, but there is a growing need for integration. The presentation gives some suggestions for how to break out of this paradox based on a perspectivist framework, and illustrated with examples from the field of agriculture, food and environment.