Consilience Definition

Wilson’s idea of consilience is deeply rooted in philosophical thinking that can be traced back to the Ionian Enchantment (Wilson, 1998). The Ionian Enchantment was characterized by certain beliefs. According to our discussions in class, one of these beliefs referred to the idea that the world was small and orderly. Since ones from this time period considered the world small and orderly, they also posited a belief in explaining the world based off of a small number of natural laws. In addition to this, this period believed in the unification of science and knowledge as an effort to further develop human rights. The concept of consilience that Wilson is introducing to readers is heavily colored by the ideas that characterized the Ionian Enchanted.
13). Wilson illustrates this importance when stating, “Most of the issues that vex humanity daily-ethnic conflict, arms escalation, overpopulation, abortion, environment, endemic poverty, to cite several most persistently before us – cannot be solved without integrating knowledge from the natural sciences with that of the social sciences and humanities” (Wilson, 1998, p. 13). Wilson argues that a balanced perspective is what will enable individuals to see the world as it truly is, and allow for individuals to approach these problems more effectively by utilizing a consilient approach. Wilson notes that political leaders often stem from the academic backgrounds associated with the social sciences and the humanities (Wilson, 1998, p. 14). Considering this, these leaders often fail to acquire a balanced perspective that allows for them to approach the problems that are facing humanity currently. Once individuals acquire a perspective that has been rooted in the unification of knowledge, individuals’ problem solving skills will completely transcend the problem solving that characterized their previous non-consilient approaches to resolving the issues that humans are currently