Beyond Aboutness: Classifying Causal Links in the Service of Interdisciplinarity

Abstract

Most scholarship, and almost all interdisciplinary scholarship, involves the investigation of causal relationships among phenomena. Yet existing classification systems in widespread use have not focused on classifying works in terms of causal relationships. In order to allow all users interested in a particular causal link to readily find (only) all relevant works, it is necessary to develop a classification of phenomena such that each phenomenon occurs in only one place, and a classification of the sort of relationships that exist among phenomena. Such a classification would be of huge benefit to interdisciplinary scholars, and would also be useful for disciplinary scholars. In particular it will enhance the rate of discovery of "undiscovered knowledge".