| Knowledge of the criteria for distinguishing disciplines is a prerequisite for understanding the disciplines. These criteria are the conceptual tools which permit us to decide those educational issues which presuppose that we rightfully make distinctions between the disciplines.;This thesis examines some of the philosophical criteria which have been used to distinguish academic disciplines and demonstrates why disciplines, and discipline aggregates such as art and science, cannot be distinguished through traditional arguments about the presence or absence of reason, value, or emotion.;Although limited and imperfect, evidence drawn from a discipline's language, practice, and collateral beliefs are valuable sources for explaining our knowledge of the disciplines. This thesis explores the extent to which knowledge about the disciplines may be analyzed by beginning with this semantic and pragmatic evidence. |
