Florent Pasquier and Basarab Nicolescu To be or Not to be Transdisciplinary, That is the New Question. So, How to be Transdisciplinary? 1 To be or Not to be Transdisciplinary, That is the New Question. So, How to be Transdisciplinary? Florent Pasquier1 and Basarab Nicolescu2, 1Sorbonne University, UTC and International Center for Transdisciplinary Research and Studies (CIRET), Paris, France; 2Faculty of European Studies, University Babes¸-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and International Center for Transdisciplinary Research and Studies (CIRET), Paris, France, Email:[email protected]; Email:fl[email protected] Received August 22, 2019; Revised December 27, 2019 Accepted January 10, 2019 Copyright c 2019 Florent Pasquier and Basarab Nicolescu. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Available online January 14, 2019 at www.atlas-journal.org, doi: 10.22545/2019/0110 enturies ago Hamlet, the famous character, practical) and fundamental sciences (theoretical and asked himself a similar question. We now applied). How. Certainly, each one of us tries to be Chave to deal with the actualization of this a good human being... but we also must not forget fundamental ontological issue: \how to be" (or how that we are not alone, which means we also have to not to be). Why. The difference is that in ancient learn how to live better all together. This brings us to times, humanity could have a long-term vision of its translate the question from just a personal position development (the planet earth was mostly unknown (point of view) and instead in its collective and by Europeans). This is a vision we dont have social dimension. It means the whole thing might anymore, as the anthropocentric period will collapse become a question of education: we probably have soon if humanity does not change its beliefs and to (re)-invent a new pedagogy. It should include: way of life. Where. Since Shakespeare, the world transdisciplinary approach, complex thinking process, has become a small village through globalization transpersonal psychology, soft skills, consciousness, and the increase of all kinds of networks. So the spirituality (not to be confused with religion) etc. question still remains valid anywhere on our planet, The use of (always) new technologies must be part and even in outer space, where some futurologists of this investigation, as they can increase our plan a possible (and non-sensical) human extension. awareness and consciousness, creating a new field Propositions to discuss. We should try to answer called technontologies (i.e. technics + ontology). this question by beginning here and now, as sciences Then, we will approach a transdisciplinary paradigm and the worlds traditional wisdoms agree that all for our personal and collective lives, for a future issues start from the inner self of each human being. of hope and fair sharing of the only planet we So we have to increase knowledge by conducting collectively need to take care of. Therefore we need research both in human sciences (philosophical and work together to find the answer to this question: Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science Vol. 10, pp. 1-8, 2019 ISSN: 1949-0569 online Florent Pasquier and Basarab Nicolescu To be or Not to be Transdisciplinary, That is the New Question. So, How to be Transdisciplinary? 2 \how to be transdisciplinary"? Object, each constituted from different levels of Re- ality. We can go from one level of Reality to another Keywords: Being transdisciplinary, subjects level of Reality by using the logic of the included and objects, how to be transdisciplinary, transreal- middle,4 but this passing crosses the region of the ity, axioms of transdisciplinarity, levels of Reality, Hidden Third. In the diagram of Transreality we Hidden Third. therefore see the entanglement between the logical included middle and the alogical Hidden Third. This Centuries ago Hamlet, the famous character, asked entanglement is fundamental for everything which himself a similar question. We now have to deal with follows in our paper. the actualization of this ontological and fundamental The question is to find a theory of action 5 that issue: be and how to be (or how not to be). allows going from a descriptive mode to a conscious The dierence is that in those ancient times, human- effective mode. We studied in such a way the dy- ity could have a long- term vision of its development namics of successive and simultaneous transforma- (the planet earth was mostly unknown by Eu- ro- tions, called individual, collective and social trans- peans). This is a vision that we do not have any formations. 6 We propose to study the problem of more, as the anthropocene period will lead to a col- \develop- ment" - human and organizational. Start- lapse soon if humanity does not change its beliefs ing from a world incarnated in three levels - the and way of life. self, others and the nature/world,7 we formulate In contrast to Shakespeares time, the world has three levels of development: personal development become now a small village through globalization (the self), professional development (the others in and countless networks. So the question still remains a professional context) and collective development valid anywhere on our planet, and even in outer (the world). These levels, potentially present in space, where some futurologists plan a possible (and the first diagram, allow true transdisciplinary dis- non-sensical) human extension. covery (see Figure 2): by superimposing the three We should try to answer this question by beginning zones of development, we see that there is a zone here (and now), as the world's traditional wisdoms where they intersect, a zone where appears the im- agree that all issues start from the inner self of each portant role of the Hidden Third, which is common human being. So we have to increase knowledge by to the three zones of development. By projecting this conducting research both in human sciences (related triple approach we can position them on a common to subjects) and fundamental sciences (related to pedestal which is constituted and constructed on the objects). different levels and structures of Transreality. This Certainly, each one of us tries to be a good human pedestal is the common platform corresponding to a being, but we also must not forget that, as we are specific space-time. It contains individualities and not alone, we have to learn how to live all together. communities such as territories, cultures, material This brings us to ask the question \How to be trans- and psychological conditions of existence, societal, disciplinary" from not just a personal position, but affective and financial networks immersed in the Hid- a collective and social dimension. den Third. We therefore can discover the dynamical We proceed in this way by starting with the dia- and operatory links be- tween human actions and the gram of \Transreality"1 (see Figure 1). In agreement structure of Transreality (see Figure 3). The zones with the three axioms of transdisciplinarity,2 the Hid- of non-resistance, belonging to the Hidden Third, den Third3 appears as the interaction of Subject and are accessible through intuition, the imaginary and 1Basarab Nicolescu, \Transdisciplinary Realism", Cybernetics and Human Knowing, Vol. 23 http://basarab-nicolescu.fr/Docs−articles/CHK−1.pdf Ac- (2016), Number 2, p. 77-85. http://basarab- cessed on Ocober 20, 2018. 4 nicolescu.fr/Docs−articles/CHK−2.pdf St´ephaneLupasco, Le principe d'antagonisme et la logique Accessed on October 20, 2018. de l'´energie. L'Esprit et la Mati`ere,Le Rocher, Monaco, 2Basarab Nicolescu, Manifesto of Transdisciplinarity, State 1987. University of New York (SUNY) Press, New York, 2002 , 5Talcott Parsons, Action Theory and the Human Condition. translation in English by Karen-Claire Voss. New York: Free Press, 1978. 3Basarab Nicolescu, \The Hidden Third as the Unifier of 6Florent Pasquier et al., R´einvestirl'humain: individus, Natural and Spiritual Information", Cybernetics and Hu- collectifs, soci´et´es, Chronique Sociale, 2017. man Knowing, Vol. 22 (2015), Number 4, p. 91-99 7Pierre Weil,L'art de vivre la vie, Rocher, Monaco, 2003. Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science Vol. 10, pp. 1-8, 2019 ISSN: 1949-0569 online Florent Pasquier and Basarab Nicolescu To be or Not to be Transdisciplinary, That is the New Question. So, How to be Transdisciplinary? 3 Figure 1: Transreality. Figure 2: Multiple levels of development and the Hidden Third. the imaginal, 8 aectivity, lived experience, poetry, They connect in a vertical manner the notions dreams. 9 of \bottomless"10 and the ontological dimensions of existence and allow establishing a bridge between 8Henry Corbin, \Mundus imaginalis ou l'imaginaire et interior (the world of subjects) and exterior (the l'imaginal" in Henri Corbin, Face de Dieu, face de l'homme, \herm´eneutiqueet soufisme” (Paris: Flammarion, 1983). 10Cornelius Castoriadis, Johann Michel, Catherine Golden- 9Ren´eBarbier, L'approche transversale: l'´ecoute sensible en stein, Pascal Vernay, Dialogue sur l'histoire et l'imaginaire sciences humaines, Exploration interculturelle et science social, Collection \Audiographie" 15, Editions´ EHESS, sociale, Paris: Anthropos, Paris, 1997. Paris, 2016. Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science Vol. 10, pp. 1-8, 2019 ISSN: 1949-0569 online Florent Pasquier and Basarab Nicolescu To be or Not to be Transdisciplinary, That is the New Question. So, How to be Transdisciplinary? 4 Figure 3: Multiple levels of human development and their link with Transreality. world of objects). of action, of passing from a voluntary, potential act Certain conditions are identified for an optimal towards actualization: the apparent dialectic mirror functioning of acting in view of a real reciprocal opposition subject/object fuses at this point of unifi- influence between subjects and objects.