Science and Philosophy. Reflections for a transdisciplinary Alliance Despite historical connections between science and philosophy have always been tight, today’s scientists often consider philosophy as extraneous, and sometimes even antagonistic, to science. In this paper I argue that, to the contrary, philosophy may have an important and productive impact on today’s science, fragmented into a multitude of specialized fields, by contributing to analyse and clarify concepts and hypotheses, assessing methods, formulating new theories and fostering the interdisciplinary dialogue between different sciences, as well as between sciences and society. More importantly, scientists cannot avoid to make non-empirical assumptions when conducting research, and philosophy can help to identify and critically debating them. I conclude by affirming the importance of a transdisciplinary dialogue between science and philosophy, which is crucial for a reciprocal ethical transformation that could open the road to a more aware and responsible way of approaching knowledge and acting in the present complex world.

Abstract

The Disjunction This essay will discuss the difference in nature and essence between science and philosophy. This difference also signifies a disjunction which, while on the one hand is destined to intensify, on the other is going to persist as their original point of articulation. The awareness of such original articulation will never be achieved and yet it will have to be sought after in spite of its apparent unattainability.

Keywords

• science
• philosophy
• disjuntion