This paper begins with the presentation of two inseparable problems, then attempts an in-depth philosophical investigation into the true nature of the problems. The first problem concerns both the distinctions between and meeting ground for the humanities and the social sciences. The second problem concerns proper ways of integrating the respective forms of academic research involved with humanistic studies and the social sciences, with a view to establishing a workable heuristic principle and determining a new direction for interdisciplinary integrations in the next century. To solve these interrelated problems, we must rely on a comprehen sive understanding of the fundamental ideas underlying the Western academic tradition. Furthermore, we must engage in critical philosophical reflections concerning these ideas. In investigating the historical development of the Western academic tradition, two contradictory trends can be found. On the one hand, the gap between humanistic studies and the social sciences has widened in modern times. On the other hand, recent years have witnessed a marked tendency toward interdisciplinary integration of all human learning. In the new era of the post-Heideggerian "ending of philosophy," one of the most important functions of post-traditional philosophy seems to consist in a methodological search for the heuristic principle and future direction of interdisciplinary integrations. Building on this new, and promising, academic trend, "life-and-death studies" grounded in "hsin/hsing" (mind/nature) realization can be used to illustrate the academic feasibility of developing our own (Taiwanese/Chinese) modes of humanistic and scientific studies in the forth coming century.
