Interdisciplinary social research requires theoreticians each expert in one discipline, not generalists

Evidence

In his inaugural lecture, Horkheimer had formulated, as a general demand and as the programme of the Institute, the principle that philosophers, sociologists, economists, historians and psychologists should unite in lasting collaboration and, in the field of social studies, should provide for a continuing dialectical fusion of philosophical theory and specific scientific practice. This was no longer possible for one individual alone. What was required here was not collaboration between those who were only philosophers and those who were only scientific specialists, but collaboration between theoreticians, each of whom was especially familiar with one of the scientific disciplines, philosophy being one of these. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 727

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes the Frankfurt School’s interdisciplinary ideal — collaboration among discipline-specific theoreticians — from mere multidisciplinary contact.
• XREF: connects to: Interdisciplinary theory required scholars each expert in a scientific field plus philosophy; Disciplinary paradigms fail alone and require transdisciplinary supplementing — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 1194; The Institute divided research labor by discipline under shared theoretical guidelines

Broader Connections

• Disciplinary paradigms fail alone and require transdisciplinary supplementing #expands (0.82) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 1194