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Document Details :

Title: De historische betekenis van interdisciplinariteit
Subtitle: Over de humanistische omwenteling van het weten
Author(s): SUÁREZ MÜLLER, Fernando
Journal: Tijdschrift voor Filosofie
Volume: 81    Issue: 2   Date: 2019   
Pages: 315-346
DOI: 10.2143/TVF.81.2.3286769

Abstract :
Current interdisciplinary research can partly be understood as an attempt to surpass mere multidisciplinary and epistemological encyclopaedism and to reconnect the whole of science with philosophical questions about the meaning of life. Humanistics is an area of research, developed by Jaap van Praag, which can be seen as an example of this interdisciplinary trend. Humanistics is not just a science that tries to connect different areas of knowledge about human nature, it also reflects upon these areas starting from what it means to be human. This sort of approach cannot be reduced to mere epistemology. Its main purpose is to address speculative and metaphysical questions as well as to change both individual and collective ways of living. Similar tendencies can be observed in other areas of current interdisciplinary research such as complexity theory and philosophical holism. A wide-ranging awareness applied to questions about the meaning of life results in a transformation of knowledge which follows a line of thought in the idealist tradition of Kant, Hegel and von Humboldt.

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