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Holism (from holos, a Greek word meaning all, entire, total) is the idea that all the properties of a given system (biological, chemical, social, mental, linguistic, etc) cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave.

The general principle of holism was concisely summarized by Aristotle in the Metaphysics: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts".

Holism is sometimes described as the opposite of reductionism (see also scientific reductionism). Some proponents of reductionism think rather that it is the opposite of greedy reductionism. Holism may also be contrasted with atomism.

On the other hand, holism and reductionism can also be regarded as complementary viewpoints, in which case they both would be needed to get a proper account of a given system.

History

The term holism was introduced by the South-African statesman Jan Smuts in his 1926 book, Holism and Evolution. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Smuts defined holism as "The tendency in nature to form wholes that are greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution."

The idea has ancient roots. Examples of holism can be found throughout human history and in the most diverse socio-cultural contexts, as has been confirmed by many ethnological studies. The French Protestant missionary, Maurice Leenhardt coined the term cosmomorphism to indicate the state of perfect symbiosis with the surrounding environment which characterized the culture of the Melanesians of New Caledonia. For these people, an isolated individual is totally indeterminate, indistinct and featureless until he can find his position within the natural and social world in which he is inserted. The confines between the self and the world are annulled to the point that the material body itself is no guarantee of the sort of recognition of identity which is typical of our own culture.

Holism in biology

Holism in science

Main article: Holism in science

In the latter half of the 20th century, the main line of holistic thinking in science is systems thinking and its derivatives, like the sciences of chaos and complexity. In the context of systems thinking, a simple interpretation of holism is that knowing elements is not enough; relations between such elements also need to be known. For example, molecular weight is simply the sum of atomic weights, and heat is the sum of movements of the molecules. These are examples in which holism (or systems thinking) is not involved. Molecular isomerism, on the other hand, is an example of the opposite: a molecule can behave in different ways depending on the arrangement of atoms in the molecule, even when the atoms themselves stay the same.

When all elements in the system, and all their interactions, are well-known and the behaviour of the system may be derived from the behaviour of the parts , no holism is needed. This is often the case in physics. In contrast, such a reductive approach may lead to problems and misinterpretations in biology, psychology, or sociology. Here the systems under scrutiny are so complex that their behavior appears "new" or "emergent". It cannot be deduced from the properties of the elements alone. (Bertalanffy 1968, 54.) This may be due to simple and practical reasons. Maybe we just do not know enough yet. There is a stronger, more controversial version of holism, which insists that there are ontological reasons that prevent reductive models in principle from working in the case of certain, complex classes of systems.

Complexity theory (also called "science of complexity"), is a contemporary heir of systems thinking. It comprises a holistic, 'top-down' approach towards understanding complex adaptive systems and as such its methods can be seen as the polar opposite to reductive methods. A general theory of complexity has been realized, and numerous complexity institutes and departments have sprung up around the world. The Santa Fe Institute is arguably the most famous of them.

Holism in philosophy

Main articles: Semantic holism,confirmation holism

In philosophy, any doctrine that emphasizes the priority of a whole over its parts is holism. In the philosophy of language this becomes the claim, called semantic holism, that the meaning of an individual word or sentence can only be understood in terms of its relations to a larger body of language, even a whole theory or a whole language. In the philosophy of mind, a mental state may be identified only in terms of its relations with others. This is often referred to as content holism or holism of the mental.

Epistemological and confirmation holism are mainstream ideas in contemporary philosophy.

Holism in medicine

Holism appears in psychosomatic medicine. In the 1970s the holistic approach was considered one possible way to conceptualize psychosomatic phenomena. Instead of charting one-way causal links from psyche to soma, or vice-versa, it aimed at a systemic model, where multiple biological, psychological and social factors were seen as interlinked. Other, alternative approaches at that time were psychosomatic and somatopsychic approaches, which concentrated on causal links only from psyche to soma, or from soma to psyche, respectively. (Lipowski 1977) At present it is commonplace in psychosomatic medicine to state that psyche and soma cannot really be separated for practical or theoretical purposes. A disturbance on any level - somatic, psychic, or social - will radiate to all the other levels, too. In this sense, psychosomatic thinking is similar to the biopsychosocial model of medicine.

In alternative medicine, a holistic approach to healing recognizes that the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical elements of each person comprise a system, and attempts to treat the whole person, concentrating on the cause of the illness as well as symptoms. Examples of such holistic therapies include Acupuncture, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, Indian Head Massage, Reiki, and Reflexology. They usually do not originate from the western medical-scientific tradition.

Holism in sociology

Main article: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

Emile Durkheim developed a concept of holism which he opposed to the notion that a society was nothing more than a simple collection of individuals. In more recent times, Louis Dumont's (1984) has contrasted "holism" to "individualism" as two different forms of societies. According to him, modern man lives in an individualist society, whereas ancient Greek society, for example, could be qualified as "holistic", because the individual found identity in the whole society. Thus, the individual was ready to sacrifice himself for his community, as his life without the polis had no sense whatsoever.

See also

• Reductionism
• Gestalt
• Buckminster Fuller
• Holism in science
• Synergetics
• Synergy
• semantic holism
• confirmation holism
• Howard T. Odum

References

• Bertalanffy, Ludvig von: General System Theory. Foundations Development Applications. Allen Lane 1971 (1968)
• Lipowski, Z.J.: "Psychosomatic medicine in seventies". Am. J. Psych. 134:3:233-244
• Smuts, Jan C.: Holism and Evolution, 1926 MacMillan, Compass/Viking Press 1961 reprint: ISBN 0598637508, Greenwood Press 1973 reprint: ISBN 0837165563, Sierra Sunrise 1999 (mildly edited): ISBN 1887263144
• Leenhardt, M. Do Kamo. La personne et le mythe dans le monde mélanésien. Gallimard. Paris. 1947.

Further reading

• Hayek, F.A. von. The Counter-revolution of Science. Studies on the abuse of reason. Free Press. New York. 1957.
• Mandelbaum, M. Societal Facts in Gardner 1959.
• Phillips, D.C. Holistic Thought in Social Science. Stanford University Press. Stanford. 1976.
• Dreyfus, H.L. Holism and Hermeneutics in The Review of Metaphysics. 34. pp. 3-23.
• James, S. The Content of Social Explanation. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1984.

External links

• Brief explanation of Koestler's derivation of "holon"
• Holism in Ayurveda
• Holism in nature – and coevolution in ecosystems
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article: "Holism and Nonseparability in Physics"
• James Schombert of University of Oregon Physics Dept on quantum holism
• Theory of sociological holism from "World of Wholeness"

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