跨文化视野下的学科会聚

学科的交叉和会聚需要理论的支撑.它包括三个方面的内容:(1)中心项(Central Item),学科会聚与交叉必有一个主要的领域、学科或学说,这是确定首席专家的依据;(2)关联域(Context),即构成该学科会聚的以中心项为主的相关领域,这是确定准入人员、准入项目的依据;(3)学科间性(Inter-disciplinity),这是学科交叉会聚所产生的新的质素,即新的前沿性领域、新的关节点,也是学科会聚所要探索的新知识.一个新的科研群体是否有前景、有地位,主要取决于对"学科间性"这一新的知识宝库的把握程度.学科会聚背后是人才的会聚,而人才会聚时所释放出的凝聚力或离心力都远远大于一般素质的人员,因而除了科研群体的共同信念外,上述三个理论可以说也是处理科研群体人事关系的依据.此外,还必须有共同的跨文化的视野.因为学科的分化是在希腊及近代的西方文化语境下发生的,而学科的交叉与会聚已超出单一的语境.凝聚于一个群体的学者有不同的文化背景;作为研究对象的客体,有的涉及不同文化的价值认同(例如生命科学、环境问题).特别是人文社会科学或者人文社会科学与自然科学的交叉学科,有无跨文化的视野可以说是研究成败的关键因素之一.

The Multidisciplinary From A Cross-Cultural Perspective

The authors of this article put forward a theory to support the current slogan of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies.To sum it up,the theory has three main points:(1) Central item.There must be a leading discipline or doctrine in the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies and the chief expert must be appointed accordingly.(2) Context.It refers to the fields relevant to the Central Item,by which the structure of personnel and project proposals can be judged and evaluated.(3) Interdisciplinary Orientation.New knowledge is the only thing that multidisciplinary studies will aim at.The success of a research group depends on its interdisciplinary orientation-the open sesame to new knowledge.The joint effort of talented people is mush stronger than that of individuals.In addition to the common beliefs shared by the scientific group,the above three points might be called the basis on which interpersonal relationship in a scientific group is to be dealt with.What is more,there must be a common cross-cultural perspective.The branching of disciplines took place in the contexts of ancient Greek culture and modern Western culture,but the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies are beyond any single context,and scholars in a scientific group may have various cultural backgrounds. As for the research objects,some(such as biological sciences and environmental protection) involve the value systems of various cultures.In the research of the humanities and social sciences or interdisciplinary studies in natural sciences,the cross-cultural perspective is the key to the success of any research.