Interdisciplinarity
The research on law and technology relates to other areas of research that involve the relationship between law and other disciplines. As an example we can mention the studies of: Law & Economics, Law & History, Law & Science, & Technology Law, Law & Cognitive Science, Law & Medicine, Law & Religion, Law & Literature, Law & Society, Law & Business, Law & Development.
The relationship between law and other disciplines, in turn, is just one of several cases in which knowledge interactes with other knowledge. Often, to understand the phenomena being studied by a certain discipline is necessary to resort to other phenomena studied by other disciplines. For example, see the contributions that physics, materials engineering and computer science have given to medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of dangerous diseases.
The accumulation of knowledge has led to the separation and classification of knowledge. But the birth of knowledge and the boundaries between sciences are phenomena historically determined and sons of specific cultural approaches.
The disciplinary approach has many limitations.
Garry Brewer wrote: “Environmental problems require interdisciplinary treatment which the conventional knowledge institutions have been unable, unwilling or slow to provide. In short: “The World has problems, universities have departments”. (Garry D. Brewer, The challenges of interdisciplinarity, Policy Sciences 32: 327-337, 1999).
In other words: The science is disciplinary but the reality is not disciplinary.
Many reasons militate in favor of the interdisciplinary approach. The problems we face can not be addressed by relying only on a single field of knowledge.
See, for example: Lifes Sciences (which involves: genetics, medicine, ethics, law, etc.); Protection of the environment; Technological convergence; Population aging and social security systems; Cyclical economic crises, etc.
Buthow can we dointerdisciplinary research?
The law has a special role in an interdisciplinary approach?
LINK
Center for the study of Interdisciplinarity
Center for Interdisciplinary Research
International Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Human Sciences (ICIRHS)
International Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CIRET)
Washington University Law Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
td-net.Network for Transdisciplinary Research