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

Abstract

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.