The Unity of Science between Epistemic Inertia and Nowadays Scientific Necessity

Abstract

Today, the idea of the unity of science seems to be at odds with reality, even though science was born out of the spirit of unity. Despite this impression, we consider that unity is not just an epistemic inertia, but an internal necessity of science. In this article we support the idea of unity as internal necessity of science after briefly analyzing the current situation, by reviewing the way in which the transfer of the unit to discontinuity reminds us of Francis Bacon, or of the French encyclopedists – those who achieved a broad division of science. Finally, we will present the three major theoretical directions regarding unity (encyclopedias, reductionism and transdisciplinarity) and how they have adapted to the needs of science.

Keywords

• unity of science
• science complexity
• division of science
• encyclopedia
• reductionism
• transdisciplinarity