Unity of science: Difference between revisions

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==Overview==

The unity of science thesis iswas famously clarified and tentatively argued forproposed by [[Ludwig von Bertalanffy]] in "General System Theory: A New Approach to Unity of Science" (1951) and by [[Paul Oppenheim]] and [[Hilary Putnam]] in "Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis" (1958). It is famouslyhas arguedbeen againstopposed by [[Jerry Fodor]] in "Special Sciences (Or: The Disunity of Science as a Working Hypothesis)" (1974), by [[Paul Feyerabend]] in ''Against Method'' (1975) and later works, and by [[John Dupré]] in "The Disunity of Science" (1983) and ''The Disorder of Things: Metaphysical Foundations of the Disunity of Science'' (1993).

Even though, for example, [[physics]] and [[sociology]] are distinct disciplines, the thesis of the unity of science says that in principle they must be part of a unified intellectual endeavor: science. The unity of science thesis is often associated with a framework of levels of organization in nature, where physics is the most basic, [[chemistry]] the level above physics, [[biology]] above chemistry, sociology above biology, and so forth. Further, [[Cell (biology)|cells]], [[organism]]s, and [[culture]]s are all biological{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}, but they represent three different levels of biological organization.

It has also been suggested (for example, in [[Jean Piaget]]'s 1918 work ''Recherche'') that the unity of science can be considered in terms of a circle of the sciences, where logic is the foundation for mathematics, which is the foundation for mechanics and physics, and physics is the foundation for chemistry, which is the foundation for biology, which is the foundation for sociology, the moral sciences, psychology, and the theory of knowledge, and the theory of knowledge is based on logic.<ref>{{Cite web|website=www.fondationjeanpiaget.ch|title=Recherche|last=Piaget|first=Jean|author-link=Jean Piaget|date=2006|orig-year=1918|access-date=9 February 2017|url=http://www.fondationjeanpiaget.ch/fjp/site/textes/VE/JP_18_Recherche.pdf}}</ref>

The unity of science thesis is famously clarified and tentatively argued for by [[Ludwig von Bertalanffy]] in "General System Theory: A New Approach to Unity of Science" (1951) and by [[Paul Oppenheim]] and [[Hilary Putnam]] in "Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis" (1958). It is famously argued against by [[Jerry Fodor]] in "Special Sciences (Or: The Disunity of Science as a Working Hypothesis)" (1974), by [[Paul Feyerabend]] in ''Against Method'' (1975) and later works, and by [[John Dupré]] in "The Disunity of Science" (1983) and ''The Disorder of Things: Metaphysical Foundations of the Disunity of Science'' (1993).

==See also==