Unification

I have, before, taken the unification, through reduction of involved experiences and theories, to be a main selling point in favor of "empiricism" / "positivism" (not entirely sure any more which term to use here in the way I mean it).

However, to cut to the point, Habermas' conception of unification is that it is something that can be achieved through discourse, as something that happens in and of the life-world; in contrast with the system-world. The system world's objects, systems, have their telos elsewhere than in human consensus through discourse; and I'm also of the opinion (but maybe this is WRONG ?) that a characteristic of these systems is that they do not fit in human conception, or human cognition. Of course, human cognition is not something that Habermas takes to be basic, or central. How then, though, to frame my problem of unification being a problem for human cognition, yet unification being the main .... ?

A possible situation sketch might be:

Control over nature; natural knowledge; is in need of unification (historal proof); but .. -> are social norms, of aesthetics, in need of unification?