Interdisciplinary Research, the Integration and Classifications of Science

Abstract

On the one hand, interdisciplinary research is increasingly employed in the scientific practice, and, on the other hand, it has become the subject of discussion. It is inextricably linked with the classification of science. However, one should distinguish between the scientific fields on the basis of methodological criteria, as in the case of August Comte, and the classification of scientific disciplines following the tradition and, what is more important now, needs of organization of research. Two aspects of interdisciplinary research consequently occur when the subject is raised: the methodological, associated with the philosophy of science, and the practical, associated with concrete problems in studies. The former gives rise to questions of the integration and unification of science, but the latter is free from such tenets. The problem of interdisciplinary research in the natural science is somewhat different from in the humanities and the social sciences.