Unified Science 2198839 166856876 2007-10-24T22:57:58Z M Alan Kazlev 183180 rm cat. Integral Thought as Haskell never used the word "integral" "'''Unified Science'''" can refer to any of three related strands in contemporary thought. * Belief in the [[unity of science]] was a central tenet of [[logical positivism]]. Different logical positivists construed this doctrine in several different ways, e.g. as a [[reductionism|reductionist]] thesis, that the objects investigated by the special sciences reduce to the objects of a common, putatively more basic domain of science, usually thought to be physics; as the thesis that all of the theories and results of the various sciences can or ought to be expressed in a common language or "universal slang"; or as the thesis that all the special sciences share a common [[scientific method|method]]. * The writings of [[Edward Haskell]] and a few associates, seeking to rework science into a single discipline employing a common artificial language. This work culminated in the 1972 publication of ''[[Full Circle (Haskell)|Full Circle: The Moral Force of Unified Science]]''. The vast part of the work of Haskell and his contemporaries remains unpublished, however. [[Timothy Wilken]] and [[Anthony Judge]] have recently revived and extended the insights of Haskell and his coworkers. * Unified Science has been a consistent thread since the 1940s in [[Howard T. Odum]]'s [[systems ecology]] and the associated [[Emergy Synthesis]], modeling the "[[ecosystem]]": the geochemical, biochemical, and thermodynamic processes of the [[lithosphere]] and [[biosphere]]. Modeling such earthly processes in this manner requires a science uniting geology, physics, biology, and chemistry (H.T.Odum 1995). With this in mind, Odum developed a [[Energy Systems Language | common language of science]] based on electronic schematics, with applications to ecology economic systems in mind (H.T.Odum 1994). ==See also== * [[Co-Action Compass]] * [[Consilience]] — the unification of knowledge, ''e.g.'' science and the humanities * [[Unity of science]] * [[Tree of Knowledge System]] ==References== * Odum, H.T. 1994. ''Ecological and General Systems: An Introduction to Systems Ecology.'' Colorado University Press, Colorado. * Odum, H.T. 1995. 'Energy Systems and the Unification of Science', in Hall, C.S. (ed.) ''Maximum Power: The Ideas and Applications of H.T. Odum.'' Colorado University Press, Colorado: 365-372. ==External links== * [http://futurepositive.synearth.net/ Future Positive] Timothy Wilken's website, including a lot of material and diagrams on Edward Haskell's Unified Science * [http://laetusinpraesens.org/docs00s/cardioid.php Cardioid Attractor Fundamental to Sustainability - 8 transactional games forming the heart of sustainable relationship] Anthony Judge's further development of these ideas [[Category:Analytic philosophy]]