holism

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Holism ( ancient Greek ὅλος holos "whole"), also holistic theory , is the idea that natural systems and their properties are to be viewed as a whole and not just as the composition of their parts. Holism takes the view that a system cannot be fully understood from the interaction of all its individual parts ( top-down ), and that the determination of the individual parts depends on their functional role in the whole. Opposite positions are reductionism and atomism , which describe systems as an arrangement of independently determinable elements and their properties. These can be social, economic, physical, chemical, biological, spiritual, linguistic, etc. systems. A related approach is the ontological , process-oriented model of emergent self-organization and autopoesis .

Even outside of theoretical contexts, the term “holistic” is used today in various technical languages as a synonym for “holistic”.

History of holism

The term "Holism" goes back to Jan Christiaan Smuts , who made it known in his 1926 book Holism and Evolution . The holistic-holistic thinking probably has older roots and refers to forerunners avant la lettre . This is proven by studies of the mythical thinking of cultures that are adapted to nature , which was almost “imperative” aimed at the harmony between the objects and their classification in the “big picture”.

In ancient Greece, the idea of ​​the world as a whole ( cosmos ) was first founded philosophically. The roots lie in the Ionic natural philosophy as with Heraclitus , but only come to perfection with Plato and Aristotle (“ The whole is more than the sum of its parts ”).

In the philosophy of the Renaissance and humanism , the ancient ideas were revived and combined with Christian and natural magic ideas on the idea of ​​the "organic unity of nature". In the philosophy of modern times that followed, the contrast between reductionism and holism emerged. Holistic basic conceptions can be found above all in the doctrine of monads by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , the natural philosophies of Friedrich Schelling and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , but also in writers and philosophers of the Romantic era such as Johann Gottfried Herder , Novalis or Friedrich Hölderlin .

Although reductionist approaches are represented far more frequently in modern sciences due to a comparatively simple methodology , the causality principle and general conclusions, holism gained importance after the strong differentiation of the different scientific disciplines, since specialization resulted in a "lack of overview". The main argument of modern holism against reductionism is often that the whole cannot be fully explained from the properties of its parts. The wholeness, however, has no goal, but is to be understood in a purely functional way: It is about creating and maintaining wholeness, especially in biological systems. Three of the few modern disciplines that are more or less based on holistic approaches are systems science (here in particular systems theory , which goes back to Ludwig von Bertalanffy ), ecology and ethnology .

Fritjof Capra is considered to be one of the main representatives of a holistic, systemic approach that combines Far Eastern wisdom , physics and ecology . One of the most popular holistic models of thought is the Gaia hypothesis , which equates the earth system with an organism. A holistic interpretation of quantum physics can be found in David Bohm .

Haldane and Smuts' theory of holism

Jan Christiaan Smuts built his theory of holism on the idea of ​​a creative evolution . In doing so, he took up the ideas of John Scott Haldane , who turned against mechanical monism as well as against vitalistic dualism and, in turn, referred to Smuts.

Smuts postulated that "all forms of existence [...] strive to be whole [...] The new whole contains, according to the material, in itself older whole, but it itself is essentially new and goes beyond the material or the parts, on which it is based, out ”, a phenomenon that he called“ emergence ”(of the new).

According to Smuts, the process of whole building establishes evolution and makes the world a progressive series of wholes from its physical beginnings as matter or energy to its highest creations as life. Traditional natural science has been too concerned with the dissection and the synthetic restoration of the living and the non-living things from their analytically obtained elements.

Smuts assumed that both science and philosophy were necessary to explain evolution. The natural sciences provided the structures, philosophy the principles of evolution. According to Smuts, matter and life consist of partial structures, the arrangement of which leads to natural whole. These partial structures are also each a whole. Whether it is an atom , a molecule , a chemical compound , plants, animals or states, everything is a whole. Conglomerates of these wholes form a new whole with new functions and capabilities. This striving for wholeness, this holism, is the driving force of evolution, its vera causa , as Smuts says, which influences the mechanisms of evolution, variation and selection . The various forms of variation were explained according to Smuts by individual expediency, use (use of body parts in a new way) and by physical environmental conditions. A variation is not an isolated variation of a part of the organism, but always consists of several variations that change the organism as a whole, says Smuts. “Variation A inevitably includes a number of aligned adjustments that depend on A and are not independently caused or maintained. […] Here the whole 'selection' is made through the application of its central supervision. ”() With Smuts, holism is not only an explanatory principle , but also active itself, as the creative cause of evolution.

philosophy

Natural philosophy

Adolf Meyer-Abich has developed a comprehensive concept of holism from an ontological and epistemological perspective. In doing so, he was critical of the concepts of Hans Driesch , a founder of systems biology, who came to the conclusion during experiments with sea ​​urchin germs that future states and shapes of an organism cannot be derived from a current material state. Driesch found it impossible to explain the morphogenesis of the organisms in this way. Beyond the mechanistic and vitalistic worldview, he developed a “monistic order” view of biological systems, but later distinguished himself from the concept of holism, since he considered the dualism of materialism and vitalism to be insurmountable.

For Meyer-Abich, holism is a relative and correlative term. For him, as for Haldane, the biological laws cannot be derived from the physical laws, since the physical laws are simplifications of the biological laws. Thus the biological ones are more universal and generally valid than the physical ones. Biology accordingly contains the theories of physics and chemistry, whereby according to Meyer-Abich the physical theories can be derived from the biological theories by simplification, but not the other way around. His son Klaus Michael Meyer-Abich also takes holistic positions. His practical natural philosophy is an enlightenment project: Everything in nature exists for its own sake; it is not oriented towards humans. He must acknowledge that he is part of nature and understand his environment as “fellow world”.

Ontic holism

As ontological holism defining a philosophical theory, according to which all that exists, mode of existence of a substance is that all areas of reality and in spite of fundamental differences of a real totality form (eg. As in the form of a ladder). Spinoza's pantheism belongs to this theory as well as more recent positions in natural philosophy , which assume a block universe .

Epistemology and Philosophy of Language

The semantic holism believes that the meaning of a sentence can only be determined by the overall context in the respective language. He was u. a. represented by Quine and Davidson . Every linguistic expression is therefore not only related to the world of objects and other non-linguistic objects, but to other linguistic elements, so that a comprehensive picture of language as structure results. In poetics , meaning is often not generated by the object reference of the language, but "emerges" through the expressive content arising in the relationship between the linguistic elements.

According to epistemological holism or epistemic holism, a hypothesis cannot be isolated, but only checked (falsified) in the context of a comprehensive theory (see also: Duhem-Quine thesis ). One representative was Norwood Russell Hanson . Epistemological holism is based on semantic holism and has far-reaching epistemological consequences.

structuralism

In a structuralist sense, holism is defined by the fact that the elements of a subject area are what they are only through their mutual relationships. Example: A drug for a certain condition contains an active ingredient whose effect promises relief. This is the relevant subject area for targeted treatment. There is a two-way relationship between relief from suffering and the effects of the drug. In a holistic sense, this fact excludes all effects of the drug that are not related to the alleviation of suffering. Those excluded effects are commonly referred to as side effects, although they are also effects in the actual, holistic sense. The effect becomes a side effect if it is not part of the subject area. If the drug does not contain any active ingredient despite its soothing effect, there is still a mutual relationship. Thus the analytical causal connection between the elements of a subject area is not a condition for holism.

Biology and cosmology

Reductionism tries to calculate systems and their properties using mathematical methods from the properties of their elementary components. With a large number of elementary components, with non-linear interactions between them or in the case of feedback, it quickly reaches insurmountable limits of predictability. According to Thomas Nagel , a crucial weak point of reductionism lies in the assumption that chance is the only engine of evolution. The degree of improbability of this assumption seems to him to be far too great in view of the infinite complexity of the genetic code .

As described above, holistic approaches try to explain evolution holistically from structures and principles. Holism itself becomes the driving force of evolution because only delimited objects as a whole can be successful in the competition of evolution. In the model of emergent self-organization, elements that interact with one another create systems with new structures, properties and capabilities. As in the model of holism, these cannot be predicted from the behavior of the lower system levels and must be determined empirically through observations, measurements, etc. Emergent processes are mostly fed back and therefore non-linear , their sequence is then determined by the deterministic chaos . Due to the non-linearity of the processes, the structures and systems and the associated complexity arise .

Since nature and society have developed in successive and hierarchically building on emergent processes in the course of the development of the world, a hierarchy of increasingly complex systems has emerged since the hypothetical Big Bang . For example, from the elementary particles the atoms (physics), from the atoms the molecules (chemistry), from molecules self-reproducing macromolecules (biology) etc., up to human society and its institutions. This continuous development is only occasionally impaired by creative catastrophes (according to Joseph Schumpeter ), the cause of which is processes elsewhere in the world.

As part of the new emergent system functions, the (natural) laws of the higher hierarchical levels were also created; For example with the molecules the chemical bonds and with the self-reproductive macromolecules the laws of molecular biology. The fundamental laws of physics existed shortly after the Big Bang; apart from the strong and weak nuclear power, they also work in all higher hierarchical levels, just like the laws of the other hierarchical levels. In higher animals, and especially in humans, there are completely new, very powerful interactions between individuals and institutions based on emotional and mental abilities. The concept of emergence implies that the behavior of these higher system levels, unlike in reductionist approaches, is not determined by the processes on the lower system levels.

Methodological holism

Methodological holism is an epistemological position according to which the explanation of something cannot be reduced to the description of the behavior of parts of it.

Social sciences

In the social sciences, methodological holism (or methodological collectivism ) is the holistic position according to which social wholes such as e.g. B. Institutions, legal systems or cultures are examined as a whole and should not be reduced to individual behavior or actions of individuals. Since Émile Durkheim ( The Rules of the Sociological Method , 1898), this approach has often served as a methodological foundation for the social sciences. To social facts ( faits sociaux ) to describe that one must look at it from the outside it, according to Durkheim: they exist independently of the individual and beyond its control; conversely, however, they impose compulsions on the individual. When Durkheim speaks of the nature of the social, he orientates himself on Auguste Comte , who believed that society and social phenomena are more than the sum of the individuals that make up this society. According to Durkheim, social wholes have irreducible (emergent) properties.

From the point of view of methodological individualism, the criticism of methodological holism is that it ignores questions about the intentions, motives, convictions and the purpose of individual action when examining the meaningfulness of social facts such as institutions, laws or customs.

A distinction must be made between methodological holism and methodological monism . This means the explanation of a state of affairs with a single method, namely the one supposedly appropriate (or with the help of a universal method). Methodical monism is a counter-term to method pluralism, which emphasizes that the research method does not have to adapt to its subject, but that research subjects are only created through the choice of method. The alleged reference to the object of a method is therefore not an argument for justifying the choice of method; it can lead to a reductionist approach.

pedagogy

Formal education is usually subject to reductionist tendencies e.g. B. through the differentiation of subjects and methods, the subject teacher principle, and the "collecting" of individual grades. Particularly through the assessments of the OECD (e.g. PISA ) it became clear that reading comprehension is decreasing due to a now outdated approach and an understanding of the environment or the development of skills to solve problems are hindered. Under the influence of neurobiology , cognitive science and evolutionary epistemology , holistic pedagogy is required, as suggested by John Dewey, for example .

psychology

The development of Gestalt psychology , a theory of perception based on the perception of holistic structures and wholeness, is an example of holistic theory formation. The development of Gestalt therapy was also influenced by Fritz Perls 'reading of Smuts' Holism and Evolution . Perls read the book in exile in South Africa in 1934 and found the principles of shape theory that he was familiar with. The design philosopher Maurice Mandelbaum speaks of societal facts in a similar context as Durkheim .

For the neuropsychologist Kurt Goldstein, who is also oriented towards shape theory, an important characteristic of the organism is to maintain and develop its identity and individuality. For the therapist, this resulted in the tasks of reintegrating split-off aspects of the person and interpreting symptoms as holistic protective reactions of the organism to harmful stimuli. In order to preserve individuality, however, the organism must also delimit itself from the outside.

Economics

In economics, a company is holistic if - in contrast to Taylorist companies - it does not use the positive economies of scale of the division of labor. In production management , holistic approaches in the context of holistic production systems (GPS) are discussed. This can mean both a functional and, if necessary, horizontal cross-company view of the management system as well as a holistic view of the resources material, energy and people.

medicine

literature

  • Ernest Nagel : About the statement: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts" 1952. In: Ernst Topitsch (Hrsg.): Logic of the social sciences . Cologne 1971, pp. 225-235.
  • Georg Bertram, Jasper Liptow: Holism in Philosophy. A central problem in contemporary philosophy. Düsseldorf: Velbrück 2002. ISBN 3-934730-52-3
  • Jan Christiaan Smuts : The holistic world . Berlin: Metzner 1938. [first edition]: Holism and Evolution . London: MacMillan 1926.
  • Adolf Meyer-Abich : Ideas and ideals of biological knowledge. Contributions to the theory and history of biological ideologies . (Bios.1.) Leipzig 1934.
  • Adolf Meyer-Abich: Main Thoughts of Holism . In: Acta Biotheoretica . Vol. V, Leiden 1939-1941, pp. 85-116.
  • Klaus Michael Meyer-Abich : Science for the Future. Holistic thinking in terms of ecological and social responsibility . Munich 1988.
  • Bernhard Dürken : Developmental Biology and Wholeness . Leipzig 1936.
  • John Scott Haldane : The Philosophical Foundations of Biology . Berlin 1932. (Original: The philosophical basis of biology 1931).
  • Anne Harrington : The Search for Wholeness. The history of biological-psychological holistic teaching. From the German Empire to the New Age movement . rororo, Reinbek 2002, ISBN 3-499-55577-8 .
  • Verena Mayer: Semantic Holism. An introduction . Berlin 1997. ISBN 3-05-002940-4

Web links

Wiktionary: Holism  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Claude Lévi-Strauss : The wild thinking. Translation by Hans Naumann. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1968.
  2. Plato, Theaetetus 207a.
  3. Schischkoff, Philosophical Dictionary , Stuttgart 1982, p. 211.
  4. Karen Gloy: The History of Holistic Thinking: Understanding Nature. New edition, Komet, Cologne 2005.
  5. Ervin Laszlo: System theory as a world view. Diederichs, Munich 1998. P. 28 f.
  6. Robert Borofsky (Ed.): Assessing Cultural Anthropology. McGraw-Hill, New York 1994. p. 13
  7. John S. Haldane: The Philosophy of a Biologist. Oxford 1935.
  8. Jan Christiaan Smuts: The holistic world. Berlin 1938, p. XVI.
  9. Jan Christiaan Smuts: The holistic world , Berlin 1938, p. 215.
  10. ^ Adolf Meyer-Abich: Natural philosophy on new ways. Stuttgart 1948.
  11. Michael Ewers: Philosophy of the Organism from a teleological and dialectical point of view: an idea-historical outline. Münster 1986, p. 57 ff.
  12. Klaus Michael Meyer-Abich: Uprising for nature. From the environment to the community. Munich, Vienna 1990.
  13. Georg Bertram (ed.): In the world of language. Consequences of semantic holism. Frankfurt a. M. 2008, p. 13.
  14. See Detel, Basic Philosophy Course, Volume 3. 2007. P. 30.
  15. Thomas Nagel: Spirit and Cosmos. Why the materialistic neo-Darwinian conception of nature is almost certainly wrong. Berlin 2013.
  16. Günter Dedié: The power of the laws of nature - emergence and collective abilities from the elementary particles to human society. 2nd edition, tredition 2015
  17. ^ Dennis J. Snower, Assar Lindbeck: Reorganization of firm and labor market inequality , in: The American Economic Review, Vol. 86, No. 2, May 1996, pp. 315-321.