Abstract

Interdisciplinarity (ID) is not only a descriptive concept adapted to scientific situations in which interactions between disciplines occur, but also an epistemological norm, which seeks to gives rise to better science. Indeed, developments in science such as molecular biology, nanotechnologies or cognitive sciences appear intuitively as scientific successes, largely due to their ID. These successes justify the claim that ID is useful for epistemic advances. The problem I tackle in this article is the normative step that goes beyond mere description and which is all too easily generalized to inappropriate contexts. The successes of ID suggest that the future of science must go beyond the current status quo: “interdisciplinarity means open inquiry in order to avoid the usual blinkers of disciplinary research”. This new way of doing science should reach beyond disciplinary objects, means of investigation, evaluation, and so on. ID is thus considered both as the future of science and as a concept used to criticise the current organization of science into different disciplines.