Problems and Prospects of Interdisciplinarity: The Case of Philosophy of Science

Abstract

Kaiser MI, Kronfeldner M, Meunier R. Problems and Prospects of Interdisciplinarity: The Case of Philosophy of Science. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 2016;41(1):61-70.In this paper, we discuss some problems and prospects of interdisciplinary encounters by focusing on philosophy of science as a case study. After introducing the case, we give an overview of the various ways in which philosophy of science can be interdisciplinary in the section ``Different forms of interdisciplinarity in philosophy of science''. In the section ``General impediments for interdisciplinarity'', we name some general problems regarding possible points of interaction between philosophy of science and the sciences studied. In the section ``The institutional and the individual perspective'' we compare the advantages and risks of interdisciplinarity for individual researchers and institutions. In the section ``Interdisciplinary PhD programs'', we discuss interdisciplinary PhD programmes, in particular concerning two main problems: increased workload and the quality of supervision. In the final section "Interdisciplinarity beyond the PhD'', we look at interdisciplinary careers beyond the PhD