Roy Bhaskar was the originator of the philosophy of critical realism and the author of many acclaimed and influential works including A Realist Theory of Science (1975); The Possibility of Naturalism (1979); Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation (1986); Reclaiming Reality (1989); Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom (1991); Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom (1993); Reflections on Meta-Reality (2002); and From Science to Emancipation (2011).

Berth Danermark is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden. He is also the Director of Doctoral Studies (and founder member) of the Swedish Institute of Disability Research.

Leigh Price is Senior Research Associate at the Environmental Learning and Research Centre, Rhodes University, South Africa, and Editor of the Journal of Critical Realism.

1. Introduction

Part I: Antinomies of Mainstream Interdisciplinarity

2. Overview of the Contemporary Literature

3. Contemporary Ways to Justify Interdisciplinarity

Part II: A Critical Realist General Theory of Interdisciplinarity

4. Core Concepts of Critical Realism

5. Critical Realism and Social Science

6. The Ontological Case for Interdisciplinarity

7. The Seven Steps to a Deeper Understanding of Ontology

8. Critical Realism and the Alternative Metatheories/Methodologies

Part III: Applied Interdisciplinary Research

9. Biophysical Interventions Are Not Enough: the Hidden (Holistic) Healing Ensemble

10. The Seven Enigmas of Healing

11. The Biopsychosocial Approach, with Special Reference to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

12. The Practical Organization of Interdisciplinary Co-operation

13. Understanding Methodological Imperialism

14. Interdisciplinarity in Action: Explaining the Epidemiology of HIV

15. Concluding Considerations