Primacy of the real and interdisciplinarity: contradictions in theoretical production

• Published in: Revista Brasileira de Ciências Ambientais (Online) Vol. 59; p. e1996
• Main Author: Faria, José Henrique de
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental 01-01-2024
• Subjects: epistemology of science; scientific theories; environmental sciences; theoretical production
• ISSN: 1808-4524; 2176-9478
• DOI: 10.5327/Z2176-94781996

The purpose of this text is to assert the thesis that scientific work, manifested in the production of analyses, theories, and concepts, irrespective of their disciplinary, multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinary origins, only unfolds when rooted in the primacy of the real. The complexity of scientific objects cannot be fully addressed exclusively within disciplinary confines. Discussions centered solely on theoretical, conceptual, or explanatory models, while assisting in transcending disciplinary limitations, do not propel the advancement of scientific knowledge. Contradictions in theoretical-conceptual and analytical production, explicit within disciplinary fields, arise not only from the limitations of disciplines but from how reality is conceptualized as concrete thought. Regardless of the discipline, theory and concept divorced from reality amount to mere speculation.