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The Metamorphosis of Holism

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Determinism, Holism, and Complexity

Abstract

This article explores anti-reductionist tendencies and the variety of their theories and metodologies. Anti-reductionism is seen principally as a critique of reductionistic methodologies: from vitalism (XVIII century), to Naturphilosophie (XIX century), to systemic theories ([5]), or from autopoiesis (Maturana, Varela, 1980), to auto-organizing theories ([18]). These different areas are examined from historical and theoretical points of view, taking into account ontological and epistemological aspects. The final part focuses on key aspects of contemporary organicism and holism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Studi Filosofici ed Epistemologici, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, “Villa Mirafiori”, Via Carlo Fea 2, 00199, Roma, Italy

    Elena Gagliasso

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  1. Elena Gagliasso
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Matematica Applicata “U. Dini”, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Vieri Benci

  2. University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Paola Cerrai

  3. University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

    Paolo Freguglia

  4. University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Giorgio Israel

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Claudio Pellegrini

  6. Dipartimento di Matematica Pura ed Applicata, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila and Domus Galilaeana, Pisa, Italy

    Paolo Freguglia

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Gagliasso, E. (2003). The Metamorphosis of Holism. In: Benci, V., Cerrai, P., Freguglia, P., Israel, G., Pellegrini, C. (eds) Determinism, Holism, and Complexity. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4947-2_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4947-2_31

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3394-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4947-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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