Abstract

As a result of an extensive situation analysis by means of a literature study and a philosophy of science workshop in May 1990 under the auspices of the HSRC, the South African Federation for Movement and Recreation Sciences and the Human Movement Science Department, University of Pretoria as well as interdisciplinary interviews, several issues threatening Human Movement Science as a scientific discipline were identified. These issues are not limited to the South African context only. They manifest themselves multidimensionally and on different levels and fall within five broad spheres/dimensions of scientific research, namely the ontological, methodological, teleological, epistemological and sociological dimensions. It soon became evident that there is no quick fix for the crises in Human Movement Science but that the answer lies within a critical analysis of the role and function of philosophy of science in Human Movement Science. This meant that the umbilical chord linking Human Movement Science to philosophy, and more specifically, to philosophy of science, had to be rediscovered. ;In view of the fact that the above spheres/dimensions of scientific research seem to assume different colours in the various philosophy of science schools/traditions/images or paradigms, more than one school or paradigm is needed as a strategy to address the crisis, illustrating the untenability of a preference for a particular philosophy of science. This untenability thesis gave rise to the design of a multidimensional meta approach as a possible strategy for renewal in Human Movement Science. However, such a strategy implies that in future Human Movement Science will have to practise science interdisciplinarily, intradisciplinarily and cross-disciplinarily, by means of a interparadigmatic, intraparadigmatic and cross-paradigmatic mode of conduct in tertiary, intertertiary, interdepartmental, interfaculty and inter-university as well as international fields. ;This study argues that a scientific discipline experiencing a crisis can be renewed or revitalised by means of a reflection on philosophy of science. The aim is to stimulate new debate in philosophy and philosophy of science in order to obtain a closer link between philosophy of science and Human Movement Science