holism

holism
—holist, n.
/hoh"liz euhm/, n. Philos.
1. the theory that whole entities, as fundamental components of reality, have an existence other than as the mere sum of their parts. Cf. organicism (def. 1).
2. Also, holiatry. Med. care of the entire patient in all aspects.
3. Psychol. any psychologic system postulating that the human mind must be studied as a unit rather than as a sum of its individual parts.
[HOL- + -ISM; term introduced by J.C. Smuts in Holism and Evolution (1926)]

* * *

In the philosophy of the social sciences, the view that denies that all large-scale social events and conditions are ultimately explicable in terms of the individuals who participated in, enjoyed, or suffered them.

Methodological holism maintains that at least some social phenomena must be studied at their own autonomous, macroscopic level of analysis, that at least some social "wholes" are not reducible to or completely explicable in terms of individuals' behaviour (see emergence). Semantic holism denies the claim that all meaningful statements about large-scale social phenomena (e.g., "The industrial revolution resulted in urbanization") can be translated without residue into statements about the actions, attitudes, relations, and circumstances of individuals.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • holism — HOLÍSM s.n. (Filoz.) Concepţie care interpretează teza ireductibilităţii întregului la suma părţilor sale, socotind drept factor integrator al lumii un principiu imaterial şi incognoscibil. – Din fr. holisme. Trimis de gall, 13.09.2007. Sursa:… …   Dicționar Român

  • holism — 1926, apparently by S.African Gen. J.C. Smuts (1870 1950) in his book Holism and Evolution which treats of evolution as a process of unification of separate parts; see HOLISTIC (Cf. holistic) + ISM (Cf. ism) …   Etymology dictionary

  • holism — [hō′liz΄əm] n. [ HOL(O) + ISM] the view that an organic or integrated whole has an independent reality which cannot be understood simply through an understanding of its parts holist n …   English World dictionary

  • Holism — Distinguish from the suffix holism, which describes addictions. Holism (from gr. ὅλος holos , a Greek word meaning all , entire , total ) is the idea that all the properties of a given system (biological, chemical, social, economic, mental,… …   Wikipedia

  • Holism — Holisme Holisme est la francisation de holism, un néologisme forgé en 1926 par l homme d État sud africain Jan Christiaan Smuts pour son ouvrage Holism and Evolution[1]. La première définition historique du holisme est : « the tendency… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • -holism — Distinguish from the word holism, which describes properties of systems. In contemporary modern English holic is a suffix that can be added to a subject to denote an addiction to it. The term is derived from alcoholism, one of the first… …   Wikipedia

  • holism — Any doctrine emphasizing the priority of a whole over its parts. In the philosophy of language, this becomes the claim that the meaning of an individual word or sentence can only be understood in terms of its relations to an indefinitely larger… …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Holism — the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its constituent parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. The general principle of holism is …   Mini philosophy glossary

  • HOLISM —    a term used by General Jan SMUTS in his book Holism and Evolution (1926) to express his BELIEF in emergent EVOLUTION. The idea comes from IDEALIST PHILOSOPHY and expresses the notion of wholeness. In recent years it has become a buzz word in… …   Concise dictionary of Religion

  • holism — [[t]ho͟ʊlɪzəm[/t]] N UNCOUNT Holism is the belief that everything in nature is connected in some way. [FORMAL] …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”