ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the desideratum from the point of view of a philosopher of science: dealing with the obstacles for solutions of the “integration problem” and presenting conceptual means that may further multi- and interdisciplinary gerontological research. There are obvious obstacles to the desideratum of finding systematically significant temporal concepts that enable us to integrate the results of different levels and so partially solve the integration problem. Accordingly, optimists believe that the problem of integrating results at different levels will in the long run be solved. Therefore, the study of aging processes seems more appropriate for partially solving the problem. The first obstacle concerns the multitude of levels of description and explanation, each with its own terminology. Even M. Bunge’s paradigmatic example of the multilevel explanation of the empirical generalization that thirst increases upon drinking sea water shows that there is no unified theory that comprises the different levels.
