Supradisciplinary research practices: history, objectives and rationale

This paper argues that the concept of transdisciplinarity is closely related to Paul Feyerabend's criticisms of the philosophy of science, which conclude with the famous statement that anything goes. This is the case when the statement of Feyerabend is taken in its original sense as the refusal of any dogmatic, scientific approach. The anti-dogmatic intention of the concept of transdisciplinarity is deduced from the principle that transdisciplinarity is a scientific approach with a strong orientation towards societal problems. Hence, kit the methodological level, high flexibility is necessary to succeed in a transdisciplinarity practice. The most appropriate description of the methodology of a transdisciplinary research approach is given by the concept of guide and supply introduced by Zandvoort and based on the research programs of Lakatos. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.