Interaction Dictionary

Epistemic stratification draws on the ontological and epistemological positioning of neorealism (see Halldórsson & Aastrup, 2003) and on the related work of Bunge on epistemic field. In the 5th volume of his Treatise on Basic Philosophy, Bunge (1983, p. 3) identifies the concerns of classical descriptive epistemology: the knowing subject and his/her accomplishments. To reflect the additional concerns of modern epistemology: learning communities, the social function of cognition and the social constraints on it, Bunge defines an epistemic field (or field of knowledge) as a ten-tuple. e = < C,S,D,G,F,B,P,K,A,M> is an epistemic field at a given time iff, at that time:

(i) C is a system composed of persons who have received a special training, hold strong information relations amongst them, and initiate or continue a tradition of belief or inquiry;

(ii) S is a society, capable of supporting and encouraging, or at least tolerating, C;

(iii) the domain or universe of discourse D of e is the collection of objects of the inquiry, i.e. the reference class of the specific concepts of e ;

(iv) the general outlook or philosophical background G of e is composed of (a) an ontology or view on the nature of things, (b) an epistemology or view on the nature of knowledge, and (c) a morality concerning the proper ways of acquiring, diffusing and utilizing knowledge;

(v) the formal background F of e is a collection of logical or mathematical theories taken for granted in the course of the inquiry;

(vi) the specific background B of e is a collection of propositions and procedures, other than F, drawn from other epistemic fields;

(vii) the problematics P of e consists of problems concerning the nature, value or use of the members of D as well as problems regarding other components of e;

(viii) the fund of knowledge K of e is a collection of propositions and procedures obtained by members of C at previous times;

(ix) The aims or goals A of e are of course the target (cognitive, practical or moral) of the specific activity of the C’s;

(x) The methodics M of e consists of all the general and special methods utilized in e.

For a given collection of objects of investigation, different epistemic fields could coexist. For the sciences, S, G, F and M could be considered common for a large number of epistemic fields. When applying different epistemic fields in engineering, also the different D’s, B’s will show overlap. On the other hand for different disciplines A, C, P, K will show significant differences. A person may belong to the C of different disciplines, and the members of an organisation will typically belong to different C as well (complementarity). The differences among disciplines (i.e., the epistemological pluralism) will be most pronounced in A, D, P and K.

Examples of cross-sector disciplines include production planning and control, enterprise modelling, ergonomics, mathematics, simulation, etc.

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