Holism versus Reductionism

Posted by Winnie Melda on February 1st, 2019

Introduction

The concept of the need and applicability of holism versus that of reductionism occupies the mind of many debaters with some seemingly preferring to adopt holism rather than reductionism whereas others consider reductionism as a stronger approach when studying a particular phenomenon. This paper is focused on a closer examination of the concepts of holism and that of reductionism and at the end bring to an understanding the similarities of holism and reductionism. The typical applications of Reductionist and holistic principles will also be deduced and extensively defined in this paper. Further, the strengths and failures of both will also be discussed.

Holism

Holism refers to all views that are based on the notion that the attributes, behavior and problems of a system can be only attributed to the interactions, and their relationships of the whole rather than the parts (Verschuren, 2011). For a holist, the whole is moreimportant than the parts since they strictly believe that the relationship between the parts and the system are symmetric compared to reductionism. Therefore, in holism a natural system and its properties is more or less than the summation of properties or attributes of its component parts (Looijen, 2000). In other words, a holistic approach suggests that though there may exist different levels of explanation of a phenomenon at which each level gives various emergent properties, each level should be studied at its complex status and cannot be reduced or simplified ( Klir, 2013).

Proponents of holism assert that reductionist explanations, though might work in some circumstances, are inappropriate to the study of certain specific phenomena such as human subjectivity since here, the emergent property to be taken account of is that of the “whole” person (Jackson, 2003).. As such, holism is said to provide a more comprehensive picture of human behavior and experience than reductionist approaches. For instance, these proponents of holism view it as better suited for explaining behavior like insight and perception of closure that may not be explained with a reductionist approach ( Klir, 2013). Also, holism does not ignore the complexity of behavior. This interconnection and integration of properties makes it better and simpler to understand the person as a whole.

However, holism is not an all strong approach of studying systems. There is difficulty in integrating and investigating explanations from their complex natures. The holistic approach tends to ignore the importance of biological and scientific explanations, such as the role of genes in human behavior and mental disorders like schizophrenia (Verschuren, 2011). These are frameworks that cannot be studied from their complex perspective as the causes of certain behavior, reaction or response is due to inner or hidden causes that cannot be accounted for if the subject of study is not broken down or simplified. Any scientific study entails vigorousness as the researcher requires digging deep into the phenomenon under consideration to find out what causes it to behave in certain observed manner. As such, the holistic approach may not be applicable in scientific psychology ( Klir, 2013).

All the same, holism has seen an extensive field of applications. The following are examples of areas Holism.

A company’s brand image is considered holistic. All activities that a company might be involved in to create an attractive image to its vicinity and the world in general (ranging from advertising to personal selling) are interdependent of each other (Verschuren, 2011). As such, though the failure of the company’s brand image may be attributed to singular failures such as limited capital, all other factors have to be replenished for a successful enticing branding. Another vital area of application of holism is psychology. A range of areas in human psychology are holistic in nature (Looijen, 2000). These include the following. First is the humanistic psychology, an area that investigates the interaction and interdependence of people. Second is the social psychology that examines the behavior of people in a social context concluding on the existence of characteristics greater than the sum of the individuals that comprise it (Jackson, 2003). In abnormal psychology, holists view mental disorders as components of interactions of biological, psychological and environmental factors.

Reductionism

Reductionism entails the practice whereby a system, a phenomenon or any subject under consideration is studied or examined by first broking it down into small sections of its components. After that, the researcher addresses, analyzes or measures each part by applying a different approach after which the sum of the characteristics of these constituent parts is combined to constitute that of the whole (Verschuren, 2001). As such, the description of the system is billed from the descriptions of the characteristics of its constituent subsystems rather than the summation of the relationships between the subsystems.

For a reductionist, the simple is considered as the fundamental source of the complex ( Klir, 2013). In other words, to account for or explain a complex phenomenon such as why certain people behave the way they do, it is deemed important first to reduce the character of such behavior to its constituent elements. In essence, a reductionist will reduce a complex behavior to a simpler set of variables that offer the simplicity of identifying the causes and effects. That implies that reductionism is a form of determinism (Verschuren, 2001). For instance, to examine a person’s eating disorders, a researcher might require subdividing the characteristics of his/her unusual eating habits and study each separately. This way, he/she will be able to address each element of the person’s eating disorders and eventually solve the whole problem.

As such, the experimental and laboratory approaches applied in various areas of psychology (including behaviorism, biological and cognitive studies) are based on a reductionist position (Looijen, 2000). Since a subject under study has to be broken down into component parts, it can be deduced that reductionism approaches to deal with subjects or objects that are divisible. In that case, reductionism is mostly useful for investigating or examining inanimate objects or strictly simple systems (Verschuren, 2001). Reductionism can, for instance, be used to determine the problems that affect a business since the latter can be divided into various sections like departments and other subsections. By taking time and studying each of these sections, one can identify the hidden root problems that the business faces. By timely identifying the remedies to each of the identified problems, one will have solved the organizational problems that curtail the development and successful ventures of the business. Reductionism has also been used in biology and chemistry to study complex compounds. Here, a biological system or a complex compound is subdivided into its constituent molecules and atoms. By understanding the attributes of these small sections, they can understand the nature of the complex entities and their fundamental attributes (Jackson, 2003).

Systems thinking

System thinking is an approach to understanding the way things influence each other. It is an area that focuses on answering the ever increasing complexity of the environment in which we live. The process involves the identifying of a system, and then explaining the behavior of the whole system in terms of its roles or functions (Jackson, 2003).

Similarities and Differences between Holism and Reductionism

Similarities

While some people might see reductionism as a complete opposite of holism, there are many similarities as the degree of overlap between the two, and can be found if the two are deeply examined alongside each other. In all senses, there are no significant differences between the two approaches as one focuses on the property of the parts while the other examines the interdependence or relationships between the same parts. Rather than holism seeking to drive out reductionism, it seeks to complement it. Similarly, rather than reductionism opposing holism as incomprehensive, it stands as its supplement. Both are approaches used to investigate or examine behaviors of similar systems and as such, no ontological, ideological or practical divergences that can be scientifically found between reduction and holism (Jackson, 2003).

Differences

As has been seen in the definition and description of the two concepts, the basic differences between holism and reductionism are as follows. Whereas holism refers to any approach that focuses or study the phenomenon of interest at its whole status, reductionism emphasizes on the parts of the whole. Holism goes forward to study a system of its complex nature while reductionism considers first to break the complex system into smaller or simpler parts study each part separately and analyze the results to conclude on the whole (Looijen, 2000). In other words, in holism, the whole is greater than the sum of its constituent parts while parts come first before the whole in reductionism. Holism can be used to study unbreakable characteristics such as living beings while reductionism is best suited for inanimate objects. As such, holism is considered a better approach to systems thinking ( Klir, 2013).

References

Jackson, M.C. (2003). Systems thinking: creative holism for managers. England :John Wiley& Sons Ltd

G (2013). Facets of Systems Science. Boston, MA: Springer US.

Looijen, C. (2000). Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology: The Mutual Dependence of Higher and Lower Level Research Programmes. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Quality and Quantity: Kluwer Academic Publishers

Verschuren, P.M (2001). Holism versus Reductionism in Modern Social Science Research,

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in graduate paper writing service if you need a similar paper you can place your order from custom research paper writing service.

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Winnie Melda

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Winnie Melda
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