OVERVIEW OF

TRANSDISCIPLINARITY:
E4D SEMINAR, MARCH
2012
Sue L. T. McGregor PhD Professor
Docent University of Helsinki 2012
Mount Saint Vincent University Halifax NS Canada
http://www.consultmcgregor.com
Sue.mcgregor@msvu.ca
DISCIPLINARY
Only one discipline is brought to bear to solve a
societal problem. Worse yet, it may be that just
one branch (deep, fragmented specialization)
within this one discipline is drawn upon. People
working in one discipline (e.g., law, economics,
sociology, science) study the same research
objects, share the same paradigm (world view
and set of assumptions about what is real), use
common methodologies and methods, and speak
the “same” language and lingo.
Although single disciplinary work has its place, it
is limiting when trying to solve complex societal
problems because only one lens is brought to bear
on the dynamics inherent in complexity.
MULTIDISCIPLINARITY

 When people simply mingle

single disciplines to problem
solve, while each discipline
maintains its distinctiveness
 the work between disciplines
does not involve integrating
new knowledge into new
patterns – it is just a sharing
of information to be used
later by one discipline
within the university
system
INTERDISCIPLINARY
 When solving problems from the interdisciplinary
approach, the people involved offer parallel analyses
of parts of a problem. A new synergy emerges from
the transfer of knowledge between disciplines and the
creation of new patterns
 This type of coordinated work often yields (a) new
applications of knowledge (methods, strategies,
processes, techniques), (b) new analyses, or (c) the
generation of entire new disciplines (e.g., bioethics).
 Although interdisciplinary work is very powerful,
those involved do not intend to change the boundaries
around their respective disciplines or to change the
relations between the disciplines. And, they tend not
to engage with entities outside of the university
setting. It IS called inter (between) disciplines…
MONO, MULTI- AND -
INTERDISCIPLINARITY ARE NEEDED,
BUT ARE NOT ENOUGH

 These approaches are confined within the

university setting, the academy, and privilege
only disciplinary knowledge.
 They do not provide a space for minds prepared
through other ways of knowing, the minds of
those living with the complex problems and/or
the minds that could contribute unique insights if
only given a voice
 There needs to be a meeting of the minds of those
working within and across academic disciplines
and those living life in civil society (citizens,
NGOs, governments and businesses); this
requires a new way to create knowledge – a new
methodology.
FROM
HTTP://WWW.HENT.ORG/TRANSDISCIPLINARY.HT
M

Civil Society
IT WARRANTS SAYING AGAIN....ALL FOUR ARE
NEEDED, AS IS THE VOICE OF THOSE WORKING AND
LIVING OUTSIDE OF THE UNIVERSITY SETTING:

 there must be a place

for disciplinary,
multi and
interdisciplinary
scholarship in
concert with
transdisciplinarity
linkages between the
academy and civil
society, else we
cannot hope to solve
the complex, wicked
problems facing
humanity.
EXAMPLES OF TD WICKED PROBLEMS FACED BY HUMANITY
THAT REQUIRE NEW APPROACHES TO GENERATE A
DIFFERENT KIND OF KNOWLEDGE, TD KNOWLEDGE:

 Unfulfilled human potential

 Hindered freedom and injustices
 Insecurity and lack of peace
 Uneven distribution of resources
 Uneven development
 Human aggression and greed
 Abuse of personal and political power
 Disempowered citizens and communities
 Unbalanced energy flows
 Unsustainability
TRANSDISCIPLINARY
KNOWLEDGE

‘Trans’ means
zigzagging back and
forth, moving across,
going beyond,
blurring boundaries,
even pushing past
boundaries. This is
called INTELLECTUAL
BORDER-WORK…. At
the academy-civil society
interface.
TRANSDISCIPLINARY
 TD intellectual work involves creating a
space for shared perspectives and
dialogue, leading to a joint analysis using
new approaches that could not have existed
without the crisscrossing of ideas to weave
together a new web of knowledge.
 Those involved in this process include
members of university departments and
research centres and members of civil society
(including all manner of citizens as well as
NGOs, NPOs, governments and private
enterprise). Local, indigenous knowledge is
central to TD problem solving.
FROM HTTP://WWW.ARCLAB.UMONTREAL.CA/GREENING-
VERDIR/DETAIL_QUESTION.PHP?HEIGHT=500&WIDTH=750&INLINEID=MYONPAGECONTENT2&ID=5&LANG=EN

NOT QUITE TRANSDISCIPLINARITY

FOUR BASIC AXIOMS OF ANY METHODOLOGY (USED
TO CREATE NEW KNOWLEDGE) (INCLUDING THE
CONVENTIONAL: EMPIRICAL, INTERPRETIVE AND
CRITICAL)
TD AXIOMS
ONTOLOGY – WHAT COUNTS AS
REALITY
ONTOLOGY – WHAT COUNTS AS REALITY
 Because the intent is to integrate many
levels of truth while generating new
knowledge, it is essential to seek multiple
perspectives on any human problem (or
set of human problems) (rather than one
level of reality, the empirically generated
reality and one truth)
 TD ontology respects the complex and
dynamic relationships among at least 10
different realities organized along three
Levels of Reality:
TD ONTOLOGY OF MULTIPLE LEVELS OF
REALITY

 (a) the internal world of humans, where

consciousness flows – the TD-Subject
(comprising political, social, historical, and
individual realities);
 (b) the external world of humans where
information flows – the TD-Object (comprising
environmental, economic, and
cosmic/planetary realities); and
 (c) the Hidden Third. Peoples’ experiences,
interpretations, descriptions, representations,
images, and formulas meet on this third level.
Three realities exist in this intuitive zone of
non-resistance, this mediated interface:
culture and art, religions, and spiritualities.
THE HIDDEN THIRD (CONTAINS 3 LEVELS OF REALITY) IN
THIS SPACE, PEOPLE SHED THEIR RESISTANCE TO TRUTH INFORMED BY
OTHER REALITIES AND JOIN THESE REALITIES TO GENERATE COMPLEX
TD KNOWLEDGE
AXIOM 1- ONTOLOGY MULTIPLE LAYERS OF
REALITY AND THE HIDDEN THIRD
(IMAGE USED WITH PERMISSION OF BASARAB NICOLESCU)

Axiom 1- Ontology
Multiple Levels of Reality
THE HIDDEN T (THIRD)
 Hidden Third mediates the flow of
information with the simultaneous flow
of consciousness such that divergent
minds can connect and share information
and perspectives so as to solve complex,
emergent problems.
 The emergence of a temporary new T
state (where A and non-A can exist at the
same time, the logic of the included
middle) represents the emergence of new
insights and perceptions, made possible
because of the temporary reconciliation
of any contradictions or antagonism
between A and non-A (different realities).
 The arrow pointing upward in this
Figure denotes temporary unification of
contradictions and antagonism amongst
various points of view (Levels of Reality,
NRs) thereby increasing the generation
of TD information about a complex
WHERE THE HIDDEN THIRD OPERATES – IN THE
QUANTUM VACUUM, WHICH IS NOT EMPTY; RATHER,
IT IS FULL OF POTENTIALITIES, READY TO EMERGE
“MEETING OF THE MINDS” – INFORMATION
AND CONSCIOUSNESS
LOGIC – HABITS OF THE MIND
USED TO REASON AND MAKE
ARGUMENTS
AXIOM 2- LOGIC
LOGIC OF THE INCLUDED MIDDLE (RIGHT IMAGE)

This axiom is concerned with the habits of the mind

that are acceptable to use to reason and make
inferences (draw conclusions) when developing
arguments, taking a position, interpreting data
et cetera.
Left image – Logic of the Excluded Middle (dead
empty space) Right image – Logic of Included
Middle – alive, dynamic space in flux
NEWTONIAN PHYSICS OF THE EXCLUDED
MIDDLE (DEAD, EMPTY, STATIC SPACE,
PREDICTABLE, MEASURABLE,
CONTROLLABLE)
AXIOM 2 LOGIC OF THE INCLUDED
MIDDLE CON’T

I use the metaphor of the lava lamp. The

space among academic disciplines and between
the academy and civil society is alive,
dynamic, in flux, always moving – called the
Fertile Middle Space. There IS a middle
ground!
INCLUSIVE LOGIC
Complex, emergent problem solving of wicked
problems happens in the lava lamp.

Everything is in-formation (including

information), in flux, always changing,
always emerging
PEOPLE FROM MANY LEVELS OF REALITY ENTERING (OR NOT) THE
FERTILE GROUND OF THE INCLUDED MIDDLE, CROSSING THE ZONE OF
RESISTANCE TO THE FERTILE MIDDLE SPACE FOR THE CREATION OF TD
KNOWLEDGE USED TO SOLVE WICKED PROBLEMS WITH THE LOGIC OF
THE INCLUDED MIDDLE AND THE MEDIATION OF THE HIDDEN THIRD
INTERFACE (VACUUM)
EPISTEMOLOGY – WHAT COUNTS
AS KNOWLEDGE AND HOW IT IS
CREATED
Intent is create new knowledge that can be used
to solve the wicked problems being faced by
humanity
 Axiom 3 – TD Knowledge
is emergent and complex
This is a different epistemology than that used in
conventional science, which assumes that only knowledge
that is generated using the scientific method is valid
(positivism).
TD knowledge is created by integration and cross-
fertilization of insights from the many levels of reality,
shared in the fertile middle space, integrated using
inclusive logic.

I call this form of TD knowledge

generation the dance. When
people bounce off each other,
energy is created –
INTELLECTUAL FUSION!
AXIOM 3 KNOWLEDGE CON’T
Remember those problems of
humanity?
They cannot be solved by one
discipline or one sector of society
alone. They are too complex. TD
deals with complex problems not
complicated problems. Here’s
an example.
Poverty (resulting from uneven
distribution of resources) is
complicated because it is a
knotted, tangled, detailed
intricate issue comprising
security, rights, responsibilities,
justice, gender and freedom.
AXIOM 3 KNOWLEDGE CON’T
When the TD axiom of knowledge is applied, the
assumption is that poverty ALSO is a complex
problem, meaning it has the additional property of
emergence. It is one thing to untangle a complicated
problem and quite another to weave the strings that
emerge into a new whole, to gain a better
understanding of the world.
Emerge means to arise out of. What emerges? Novel
qualities, properties, patterns, structures,
relationships, in-formation and synergy… from the
intellectual fusion. People were able to cross the
hidden zone of resistance (the Hidden Third) between
the multiple levels of realities and be open to other
people’s world views and perspectives. There was a
meeting of the minds, a flow of consciousness and of
in-formation.
AXIOM 3 KNOWLEDGE CON’T
Engaging in TD knowledge generation by solving complex,
wicked problems also assumes the issue is constantly
changing as are the different people and their ideas (old
and new) as they interact while untangling the knots and
bringing new perspectives. Original perceptions about the
problem (e.g., poverty) are left behind as a new fabric or
weave takes place. EVERYTHING is in flux in the fertile
middle space as people use inclusive logic to weave together
insights from multiple levels of reality and differing
perspectives and value premises. Have to respect new
notions of order and chaos (see next)
AXIOM 3 KNOWLEDGE CON’T
The TD methodology of creating knowledge assumes
that chaos is a necessary place for people to live
because order comes from chaos (understood to
mean unpredictable not disordered). Order is there,
it just has not emerged yet… New insights appear in
this chaotic state – in this vacuum.
Also, people are self-organizing and adapting; they
are capable of (re)creating an inner core from which
they gain stability as a world citizen.
People no longer feel compelled to maintain the status
quo. New respect for emergent tensions instead of
trying to keep things in balance.

Order is Emerging from Within Chaos,

just not in a predictable manner…
AXIOM 3 KNOWLEDGE (FINI)
The TD knowledge necessary to solve the complex,
emergent, wicked problems of humanity is
ALIVE because the problems that the knowledge
addresses are alive, emerging from our life world.
The knowledge created together (in the lava
lamp) becomes part of everyone involved because
once it is created, it falls back down on everyone
in the TD dance and becomes part of them:

Embodied knowledge!!
AXIOLOGY – THE ROLE OF
VALUES AND OF THE
RESEARCHER/PROBLEM SOLVER
EXAMPLES OF UNIVERSITIES TRYING TO
BRING TRANSDISCIPLINARITY TO THEIR
WORK

I have examples
of what this TD
work looks like
in action, if
there is any
interest, for
later in the
seminar...