SUBSUMPTION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3256 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
The ordening of a set of concepts in a hierarchical unity.
J. WARFIELD states: “Subsumption is relevant not only to the organization of knowledge in ways that facilitates its interpretation and utility, but also to components of organizations” (1990, p.290).
And: “Subsumption replaces ”interdisciplinary“, ”aggregative“, or ”integrative“, in situations involving the bringing together of all available relevant knowledge to construct a new organic conceptual whole” (pers. communication, 1991).
- “(Subsumption) places no artificial limits on the sources of the concepts to be aggregated and thus admits actors to the discussion who are not obsessed with ”disciplines“. At the same time it allows for the possibility that an area of interest which has achieved subsumption of relevant knowledge to a high degree of quality may still be called a ”discipline“ in the academic sense” (1990b, p.290).
Remains to hope and see if obstinate “disciplinarians” will be heedful!
Subsumption must “increase the scope of the model without removing its previous content. Movement such as this is an antidote to the disease called ”hardening of the categories“, which is often found as a glue that holds inadequate frames in place” (WARFIELD, 1989, p.16).
And: “A subsumptive transformation implies bringing together diverse views and ideas and transforming those by aggregating them and integrating them into a new and more encompassing perspective” (1990a, p.69-70).
See also
Supersumption