Logic, methodology and philosophy of science VIII proceedings of the eighth international congress of logic, methodology and philosophy of science, and philosophy of science proceedings) ( PDFDrive ) 35

16 P FEDOSEYEV account in projecting such a system New technologies which are the product of present-day engineering activity are intended for coordinating natural and technical knowledge proper with the knowledge of a sociopsychological and humanitarian character The projecting and introduction of such technologies should account the consequences of their impact on man and his natural and social environment Therefore, their elaboration is in essence becoming the research and projecting of “man-machine system-environment” complexes It is not surprising that many large-scale technological elaborations are becoming at the same time scientific and technological programmes covering research not only into technological , but also ecological, social and psychological problems This has resulted in large-scale research programmes uniting the efforts of computer and physico-chemical sciences and socio-humanitarian disciplines (psychology, sociology, ethics, law, linguistics, etc.) Similar large-scale programmes uniting the cognitive possibilities of various disciplines are now emerging and being worked out in connection with solving global problems: ecological, demographic and medical problems; problems of space development; and the creation of new sources of food, energy and raw-materials New knowledge obtained in the process of developing such programmes exerts active reverse influence on fundamental scientific disciplines, thus opening new opportunities for their progress The elaboration of large-scale scientific and technological projects demands ever more acutely the synthesis and systematisation of philosophic and methodological knowledge which would create an integral picture of research activity and coordinated knowledge of various disciplines (physical, chemical, ecological and the like) with social values As comprehensive research is becoming a main road for developing present-day science, it evokes a number of problems pertaining to the philosophical interpretation of the integrative processes of present-day scientific knowledge These problems relate to the process of shifting the boundaries between certain disciplines, and to the interrelation, dialogue and mutual penetration of natural and socio-humanistic knowledge Until recently studies of the questions of logic, methodology and philosophy of knowledge were oriented towards natural science as a single model of scientific knowledge in general Today an analysis of the philosophical and methodological problems of socio-humanistic knowledge is becoming imperative, because of their growing intrinsic importance and because their solution is necessary for understanding the development of scientific knowledge as a whole