POWER POINT PRESENTATION

Holism v. Reductionism

Wilmington University

Sai Rohith Cherukumilli

Holism

Holism primarily refers to the explanation of scientific, economic, linguistic as well as philosophical ideas as a whole rather than partially in respective parts. This is irrespective of the idea and aspect that parts of a whole system dictate and influence the manner in which the whole system operates. Holism therefore means that a system as a whole is considered, with respect to greatness, to be greater compared to the sum of the different parts that constitute it. The origin of the term holism can be traced to J C Smuts and in the development of the idea, he argued that it was a representation of universal wholes. There are two major types of holism and these are epistemological as well as semantic holism (Wilson, 2008).

Semantic holism is primarily a theory that is rooted in lingual philosophy. According to semantic holism, the understanding of a given segment or part of a language is best facilitated through the creation of a relationship between the part of a language and a relatively bigger segment. This is key in facilitating the formulation of a meaning in a sentence to the user. Key proponents of the concept of semantic holism included Quine and Frege. Meaning, with respect to the relationship that is existent between holism and externalism, is determined and influenced by relations in the setting of the world, especially with regards to relation to beliefs as well as other words. Semantic holism has however been criticized for failure to provide an explanation regarding how communication is possible between two different individuals capable of using a different expressions linguistically to mean a similar thing. Semantic holism has also been criticized for its meaning that the holistic understanding of a given natural language is key to understanding an expression in the language, an aspect that would mean that the learning of language is by large an impossibility (Mumford, & Anjum, 2011).

Epistemological holism means that in the testing of a theory that is scientific, the testing cannot be done in isolation. The testing cannot be done individually because of the dependence that is not only existent between a theory and others but with the hypotheses as well. Based on epistemological holism, interpreting what one observes does not only count on evidence to identify the most appropriate theory. An empirical test is not adequate enough, according to epistemological holism, to provide confirmation of a single statement but rather, several statements are essential to facilitate the confirmation of a theory (Looijen, 2000).

Holism is evident in many different fields in relatively varying ways. Holism in agriculture is evident through farming that is done organically. Scientifically, holism means that the manner in which a system behaves cannot be in any way predicted irrespective of there being the likelihood of a huge amount of data available. With respect to ecology, a holistic approach involves the inclusion of different components in a respective area and these components and views are and include biological, physical and most importantly, physical perspectives. In the field of medicine, a holistic approach is considered to be the application of judgement that is intuitive while taking into account considerations that are socially based and construct. Neurology which deals with the manner in which the brain functions explains holism in that the organization of the brain is based on cortical areas that are relatively distinct and that work towards facilitating a wide range of operations mentally (Mumford, & Anjum, 2011).

Reductionism

Reductionism is the opposite of holism and it primarily involves the simplification of relatively complex things in a bid to facilitate understanding of the complex things. This means the breakdown of a system into parts and to its respective components. Reductionism as a philosophical idea is based on one of the most famous philosophers, Descartes. According to Descartes, the taking apart of a complex system is key in facilitating the study of constituent parts of the whole system and subsequently putting the different parts together, an aspect that facilitates the perception of the “larger picture”. The philosophical idea of reductionism is applicable to not only objects but also, theories, any form of explanation, phenomena and most importantly, meanings of things.

There are three distinct types of reductionism and these include; ontological, methodological as well as the reductionism theory. These types of reductionism can be explained in the following ways;

Ontological reductionism refers to the perception that reality is comprised of a given number of entities, the metaphysical perception and idea regarding reductionism. According to ontological reductionism, it is possible to reduce any object, a property or preferably, an event into a single unit. Ontological reductionism further states and argues that in a relatively fundamental state, ontological emergence can only be existent through a comprehensive system analysis. Ontological reductionism is divided into two and these are token as well as type ontological reductionism. Token ontological reductionism is the concept that respective items are in existence in the form of a total item. On the other hand, type ontological reductionism, type items exist in the form of total/sum type item, and more importantly, that an item that is perceivable is composed of the addition of the different types of items that are relatively less complex (Pratt, 2010).

Methodological reductionism refers to the argument that is based on science and that states that the reduction of explanations into the respective components is the most appropriate scientific strategy. An example of methodological reductionism is that the boiling point of any given substance is the best atomic explanation rather than the provision of a chemical explanation. Methodological reductionism means that various scientific theories ought to be reduced to singular theories through a method known as reduction. This way, it would be relatively easy to gain an understanding of a scientific theory (Mumford, & Anjum, 2011).

Reductionism of theory

The absorption of one theory by a different theory is referred to as reductionism of theory. The reduction is facilitated by the theory that facilitates reductionism possessing much greater power of explaining key theoretical concepts while the two theories explain a similar phenomenon. This facilitates a much better and enhanced explanation of the reduced theory through the provision of more particulate ideas (Di, 2006).

Reductionism has been applied in a wide range of fields including physics, chemistry and most important of the areas where reductionism theory is applied is in classical mechanics. In the field of science, the theory of reductionism states and argues that key study areas are founded on relatively small units of study. In the application of reductionism, failure to adhere to proper instructions and inappropriateness is believed to be a root cause and source of inhibited understanding of systems that are relatively complex (Wilson, 2008).

Compare and Contrast Reductionism and Holism

Reductionism and holism are similar in various ways and differ with respect to several perspectives. The following are the similarities and differences between the two philosophical concepts;

A key difference between reductionism and holism is that while reductionism recommends the use of a single factor in to facilitate understanding of the relatively complicated nature of human behavior, holism recommends that behavioral study be done through the study of the whole. This is one of the greatest differences between the two with the supporters of either arguing in support of either factions as being the most effective in facilitating the study and subsequent understanding of behavior.

The two are also different in that reductionism tries to provide an explanation of behavior on the basis of influences that are internal. This is exemplified by reductionism trial to explain behavior that is considered to be criminal on the basis of the genetic makeup. Holism is different in that the explanation of human behavior is provided based on the influences of the environment as well as the people that an individual interact with. This way, holism explain the reason behind behavioral variation in different contexts and situations (Looijen, 2000).

The two philosophical approaches are similar in that despite the fact that they differ in the manner in which they try to facilitate understanding of systems, the key and central goal of both is to facilitate comprehensive as well as effective understanding of systems. This is exemplified in that holism is more or less complemented by reductionism. This is because, understanding the respective components of a system is believed to be ideal in facilitating an understanding of the whole system, which essentially is holism (Wilson, 2008).

References

Di, S. V. (2006). Holism and complementary medicine: Origins and principles. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Looijen, R. C. (2000). Holism and reductionism in biology and ecology: The mutual dependence of higher and lower level research programmes. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Mumford, S., & Anjum, R. L. (2011). Reductionism, Holism and Emergence. Getting Causes from Powers, 86-105. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695614.003.0004

Pratt, J. (2010). Holism and Reductionism - A Daoist Explanation. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2629450

Wilson, D. S. (2008). Holism and Reductionism in Evolutionary Ecology. Oikos, 53(2), 269. doi:10.2307/3566073