Fractals or Fish: Does a Space for Interdisciplinarity Exist?
Description
Stanley Fish has argued that being interdisciplinary is impossible. He claims to base this on an
epistemology of deconstruction. This paper examines Fish's case against living interdisciplinary. It shows
that his arguments rest not on an epistemology of deconstruction but on a topologically simple, Euclidean
view of space. Developments in the now science of chaos and fractal geometry are reviewed which
supersede Fish's Euclidean view of space. These developments are shown to provide a discourse and a
space for being interdisciplinary. An example of a fractal epistemology of deconstruction is reviewed that
can accommodate being interdisciplinary.
Citation
Mackey, J. Linn. "Fractals or Fish: Does a Space for Interdisciplinarity Exist?" Issues in Integrative Studies 13 (1995): 101-113.
Date
1995