The Concepts of Holism and Reductionism in Sociological Theory

The Concepts of Holism and Reductionism in Sociological Theory PDF Author: Jens S. Allwood
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Holism
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology

Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology PDF Author: Rick C. Looijen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401595607
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Holism and reductionism are traditionally seen as incompatible views or approaches to nature. Here Looijen argues that they should rather be seen as mutually dependent and hence co-operating research programmes. He sheds some interesting new light on the emergence thesis, its relation to the reduction thesis, and on the role and status of functional explanations in biology. He discusses several examples of reduction in both biology and ecology, showing the mutual dependence of holistic and reductionist research programmes. Ecologists are offered separate chapters, clarifying some major, yet highly and controversial ecological concepts, such as `community', `habitat', and `niche'. The book is the first in-depth study of the philosophy of ecology. Readership: Specialists in the philosophy of science, especially the philosophy of biology, biologists and ecologists interested in the philosophy of their discipline. Also of interest to other scientists concerned with the holism-reductionism issue.

The Holism-Reductionism Debate

The Holism-Reductionism Debate PDF Author: Gerard M. Verschuuren
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781542888486
Category : Biology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book is an introduction into the reductionism-holism debate, for aspiring as well as accomplished scientists. It is intended for those working in, or preparing for, research in any scientific field-ranging from the physical sciences to the life sciences to the behavioral sciences and the social sciences. It is certainly not meant for people specialized in areas dealing with the specific issue of reductionism in a strict philosophical sense; they won't learn much new from this book. In other words, this is not a monograph with specialized, original research, but rather an initiation into the debate-more like an introductory textbook, if you will.

Oxford Bibliographies

Oxford Bibliographies PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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The Logic of Society

The Logic of Society PDF Author: Laird Addis
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452907765
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Complexity and Resilience in the Social and Ecological Sciences

Complexity and Resilience in the Social and Ecological Sciences PDF Author: Eoin Flaherty
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137549785
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
This book introduces a new approach to environmental sociology, by integrating complexity-informed social science, Marxian ecological theory, and resilience-based human ecology. It argues that sociologists have largely ignored developments in ecology which move beyond functionalist approaches to systems analysis, and as a result, environmental sociology has failed to capitalise not only on the analytical promise of resilience ecology, but on complementary developments in complexity theory. By tracing the origins and discussing current developments in each of these areas, it offers several paths to interdisciplinary dialogue. Eoin Flaherty argues that complexity theory and Marxian ecology can enhance our understanding of the social aspect of social-ecological systems, whilst a resilience approach can sharpen the analytical power of environmental sociology.

Holism and Evolution

Holism and Evolution PDF Author: Jan Christiaan Smuts
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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What Holism Can Do for Social Theory

What Holism Can Do for Social Theory PDF Author: Barbara Hanson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317801237
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
This book reconsiders the nature of positivist philosophy in social science theory based on classical and medieval thought in what later became "Europe." It argues that social theory is being held back by antagonistic debates over science, positivism, objectivity, and universal law - debates which appear unnecessary, narrow, and acontextual when their origins are examined. Positing that solutions to these impasses can be found by moving to alternative holistic epistemology, and looking at issues in terms of interrelations rather than parts, the book shows the promise of a social theory that provides a unit of analysis that mediates between local and global relations.

The Content of Social Explanation

The Content of Social Explanation PDF Author: Susan James
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521266673
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
This is a study of the central questions of explanation in the social sciences, and a defence of 'holism' against 'individualism'. In the first half of the book Susan James sets out very clearly the philosophical background to this controversy. She locates its source not at the analytical level at which most of the debate is usually conducted but at a more fundamental, moral level, in different conceptions of the human individual. In the second half of the book she examines critically three case studies of holistic approaches - Althusser, Poulantzas and the Annales historians - and progressively refines our sense of the strengths and deficiencies of their programmes. She ends by arguing for a form of concessive holism, which offers some accommodation to liberal conceptions of individual autonomy but continues to emphasise the explanatory importance of social regularities and environments.

Greater Than the Parts

Greater Than the Parts PDF Author: Christopher Lawrence
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195109047
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
This book sheds new light on orthodox medicine and medical science in the interwar years. It challenges the accepted story that medicine in the twentieth century was subject to icreasing reductionism and shows instead that there was a holistic turn in the medical sciences and clinical practice that challenged reductionism and medical specialization.