Science and the IS Researcher: Building an Empire Without Walls

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a radical alternative perspective into the debate on diversity, and the use of reference disciplines in IS research. It seeks to provide the foundation for a philosophical dialectic from which a new synthesis of the opposing views on the debate may emerge. Specifically, it is argued that the boundaries that divide academic disciplines are merely social conventions; products of convenience and individual and group self-interest. In contrast to this socially constructed view of scholarly inquiry, it is argued thatscience is a common good and that maturity of a field and of a researcher is evidenced not by defending the walls of a scientific empire but by contributing to the broader scientific community in which scholars in all fields may participate. The paradigm promulgated here is one of intellectual development and knowledge sharing that breaks down the walls of disciplines, views knowledge holistically, and considers the spread and evolution of ideas as the most important goal of all researchers. More than justa philosophical ideal, with the advent of the world wide web this new paradigm becomes a very real possibilit