The Place of Theory Reduction in the Models of Interdisciplinary Relations

Abstract

Theory reduction is a classical theme of the philosophy of science and at the same
time an important issue of interdisciplinary relations. More precisely: Reduction is
one way in which theories of different disciplines can „relate“. To be more precise:
It is a one-way leading to the absorption of one discipline by another. Strangely
enough, those two aspects of theory reduction usually are not considered together.
Moreover, interdisciplinarity is an urgent topic in the sciences themselves, but
largely disregarded by the philosophy of science (cf. its being neglected or
marginally treated in Carrier 2006; Chalmers 52001; Hacking 1996;
Charpa 1006; Poser 2001; Schurz 2006). Due to these circumstances, the question of
the place of theory reduction in a model of interdisciplinary relations just is not
asked. This contribution is an attempt to overcome this desideratum at least in a
first approach.