CENTERLEO APOSTEL Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Project for a Research Community on "Construction of Integrating World Views"

In 1990, the interdisciplinary research group "Worldviews" was founded by the late Belgian philosopher Leo Apostel. The present members are Diederik Aerts (Theoretical Physics, University of Brussels), Diderik Batens (Philosophy of Science, University of Ghent), Bart De Moor (Applied Sciences, University of Leuven), Staf Hellemans (Sociology, University of Utrecht), Edel Maex (Psychiatry en Psychotherapy, RIAGG Tilburg), Hubert Van Belle (Applied Sciences, Bombardier-Eurorail), Marie-Claire Van de Velde (Biology, University of Ghent) and Jan Van der Veken (Philosophy and Theology, University of Leuven). They wish to extend their collaboration to different research centers in Belgium and abroad, forming a "research community", which would study the following topics.

Our rapidly evolving and very complex society is strongly fragmented, ideologically, politically, socially, culturally and scientifically. Many cultures, sub-cultures and cultural fragments are proposing inconsistent views. Science too moves towards ever more narrow regions of specialization, deepening the gap between specialist and layman. Often it is not even possible for the specialist to get an overview of his own discipline. We believe that this fragmentation in science itself, and the constantly growing gap between scientist and layman, constitutes an important cause of alienation of the individual from the surrounding nature and culture. The explosion of knowledge in our information-society only deepens the gap.

What seems to be missing is a model that allows us to integrate the insights of the several sciences. We will call such an integration a 'worldview'. The aim of the 'research community' we would like to create is the construction of integrating worldviews, as a reaction against the growing fragmentation. The 'Worldviews group' wishes to focus on five key aspects, together forming a concrete common research programme, on which the different participating research groups will contribute according to their specific experience. These key aspects are analysed in great detail in [1] and [2] and we shall only sketch them here, pointing each time to the specific role the participating research groups will play concerning these aspects.

1. The construction of a 'model' of the world.

Research about the nature and functioning of the world, and more concretely about the metaphors most fit to map the world. The Worldviews group identified the traditional oppositions (mechanic - organic, objective - subjective, macro - micro) as resulting from the way the different disciplines focus on different levels of reality. This "layered" structure of reality is presently being studied by the Center "Leo Apostel" and the "Center for Theoretical Studies".

2. An explanatory model of reality

Apart from description, the sciences also try to explain. Research will be done about the general explanatory principles of our reality; about the epistemological principles that govern the forming of models in the sciences, and about the implicit onthology of these models (mechanism versus organicism; reversebility versus irreversebility; dualistic models versus integrating models; problematics of chaos and order). The groups of Jan Van der Veken (Center for Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology) and Diderik Batens (Center for Logics and the Philosophy of Science) will specifically study this aspect of the common project.

3. A valuation model of the world

World views will differ depending on how they structure their model of values (axiology). The question of meaning and the way in which we judge and attach value to the global reality are key topics in this aspect of the programme (Research Center for Philosophy of Life and Methodology of Science).

4. A model of knowledge acquisition.

Every model, whether it is descriptive, explanatory or valuative, is accompanied by a certain cognitive construction. The aim is to describe this construction as explicitly as possible and to analyse it, according to the findings of contemporary philosophy of science and some area's of the positivist sciences. This will be studied in particular by the Center for Logics and the Philosophy of Science.

5. An integrated model of action

We are involved in the world not only by knowing, valuing or feeling, but also by acting. There is a general tendency to neglect the sciences of action when searching for an integrative world view. They are called "applied sciences", although this does not imply that they merely apply knowledge that has been acquired theoretically. It is clear that a global world view can only be built in interaction with a general praxology. This aspect will be studied by the groups around Bart De Moor (SISTA; Signals, Identification, Systems theory, Automatisation), Hubert Van Belle and Robert Maier (Research Center for Communication, Identity and Morality).

[2] D. Aerts, L. Schele, J. Van der Veken, "Worldviews and the Problem of Synthesis", Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996. (to appear)