PROCESS SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Subtitle: FOR WANT OF SYNTHETIC THOUGHT AND A UNIFYING PHILOSOPHY

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Gatchel, Stanley G. | Tanik, Murat M.

Affiliations: Process Sciences Laboratory, Dallas, TX | Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Abstract: This paper examines the issues of integrating scientific knowledge and it attempts to reveal the potential of a more fundamental model of interdisciplinary science. Proposed is an approach which joins process science with process philosophy through a unifying hypothesis, intended to change the current mechanistic world view to one that is adaptive, flexible, integrated and process-oriented. It explores the problems of science being segmented into disciplines and the great need to "unify" scientific knowledge. The paper presents a hypothesis that promotes the concept of process as a fundamental abstract notion applicable at all organizational levels of complex systems. A new structure of process science is "defined" so that areas needing scientific attention may be pursued. If interdisciplinary knowledge and design are to become a common part of the scientific landscape of the future, science must turn its visionary kaleidoscope to see new patterns of design and to find creative solutions to the problems of human society that are harmonious with the natural world. It is hoped that process science will not only allow us to design across scientific disciplines, but also join with process philosophy to help us reach a new age of understanding.

Journal: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 1-21, 2001