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Since philosophy is not strictly a discipline, but a habit of interrogation, it is an appropriate approach to the problem of characterizing the interdisciplinary fields. In particular, the impossibility of any one system of knowledge being totally closed suggests a need for interdisciplinary approaches. The growth of classical physics through the interdisciplinary union of physics & mathematics illustrates the value which such approaches can have. At the same time, such interdisciplinary approaches often themselves grow into new disciplines. Interdisciplinarity is not a science using other sciences in an auxiliary manner. It is best understood, as exemplified by operational research, as the effort to make practical decisions using all the relevant data; such efforts are most crucial in political decision making, as suggested by Plato's metaphorical comparison of politics to weaving. W. H. Stoddard.