Transdisciplinarity: the search for the unity of scientific and technological knowledge

Abstract

Introduction: Reflections about the unity of knowledge have taken place at various times in history. Modern science, however, brings in its wake the issue of disciplinary specialization, which caused a profound change in the search for scientific knowledge. The new disciplinary order, increasingly specialized, hindered the integrated vision of science and knowledge, leading to a distancing from the various realities contained in the same problem or circumstance, and even disregarding the necessary integration among knowledges. Objectives: To understand the relevance of searching for all aspects of the same situation, this research aims to deepen the contributions and understandings of some of the first thinkers who dealt with the unity of knowledge, extending to Kurt Gödel, considered as the father of transdisciplinary, and to Mode 2 of knowledge production by Michael Gibbons. Method: This study consists of an interpretivist, qualitative research, resulting in a critical literature review, which synthesized the information through evaluation and in-depth discussion about the unity of scientific and technological knowledge. Results: Unity of knowledge refers to the fact that conditioned knowledge can only achieve its integrity through unconditioned knowledge, the latter not merely a contingent aggregate, but an indispensable system for the complete identity of conditioned knowledge. Conclusion: Transdisciplinary, in this respect, is the search for the unity of knowledge, beyond disciplinary boundaries, to capture the full complexity of the multidimensional and the multi-referential Reality of the conditioned element.