On fit -- Integration of knowledge: Integration of knowledge

Author: Edward O. Wilson
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-04-01
Features: "Consilience" is the process by which knowledge is unified and integrated by connecting facts across disciplines and theories grounded in those facts, thereby creating a common explanatory foundation. It is a way of thinking, now held by many scientists who are also philosophers. The material world is governed by laws; knowledge possesses an inherent unity, and human progress has infinite potential. Great intellectual labor has been and will continue to be the effort to integrate natural science and the humanities. Although Wilson was worn out by the controversy over sociobiology, he did not stop but rather went further, ultimately writing this book on consilience. In Consilience, Wilson lets go of any pretense, without the slightest hesitation, and directly addresses the core of the issue without any preamble from biology. He boldly and clearly proposes that not only do some simple social behaviors of humans but also some so-called "higher" social behaviors have their biological prototypes. Wilson continues the line of thought from his Sociobiology, but he explains the problems faced by social and humanistic disciplines such as social sciences, economics, sociology, philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, theology, and cultural anthropology more comprehensively from a biological perspective, offering entirely new interpretations. To support his argument, Wilson does not hesitate to sing the praises of reductionism, which many natural scientists disdain. Essentially, all the arguments in Wilson's Consilience are based on the philosophy of reductionism, and his unhesitating advocacy of it is rare in the scientific community today. In fact, what Wilson does is not hard to understand because biological determinism and reductionism have always been like twin brothers. To counter attacks from social scientists and humanities scholars, Wilson nearly attacked contemporary postmodernism, such as Foucault's views, even whipping up a storm, trying to undermine the knowledge foundation of his critics. Wilson's actions earned praise from some life scientists but drew opposition from many social scientists and humanities scholars, who believed that his approach was to...