Abstract
An ecosystem is a composite entity of biotic and nonbiotic parts. But it is not a simple aggregation of parts, where the properties of the whole are reducible to the properties of the parts (reductionism). Rather, the parts come together in a special synergy, producing emergent properties (holism). Reductionists maintain that parts of a whole are externally related: the essence of one part is completely separate and independent from the essence of another part; and the essence of the whole is exhaustively reducible to the essences of its constituent parts and the various relations among them. Holists maintain the contrary view, that the parts of a whole are internally related, so that the essence of each is partially constituted by the properties of all the others and of the whole. Hence, the whole cannot be understood from its parts and their relations to each other alone; and conversely, the parts cannot be fully understood apart from the whole. Considered holistically, an ecosystem will have emergent properties that are not properties of its constituent parts and cannot be reduced to or explained solely in terms of them. A synthesis of both approaches is needed. An alternative explanation for why we are unable to reduce some entities to their constituent parts and their properties is that we are simply ignorant of the details. As we learn more about them the reduction will become more and more complete. Holism is thus conceived as an epistemological deficiency and not as a metaphysical reality. But this is improbable with respect to highly complex systems that exhibit the unpredictable properties of an organic whole. Acknowledgement of this is critical for being able to see (know) and appreciate (value) nature as consisting of systems within systems. And this in turn is necessary for the attainment of ecological wisdom and ecological justice.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Blitz (1992, 178) divides Reductionism, Mechanism, Emergentism, Organicism, and Holism in a first-order ranking:
Methodology
Ontology
Epistemology
Reductionism
Properties of wholes are always found among the properties of their parts
Knowledge of the parts is both necessary and sufficient for understanding the whole
Mechanism
Properties of wholes are effects of the parts and their structure
Knowledge of the kind or type of the cause is sufficient for understanding the kind or type of the effect
Emergentism
Some properties of wholes are not the properties of any of their parts
Knowledge of the parts is necessary but not sufficient for understanding the whole
Organicism
Parts cannot exist independently of a whole
Knowledge of the whole is necessary in order to understand the parts and conversely
Holism
The basic unit is the whole—the essence of a whole is sui generis; the essences of the parts are derivative
Knowledge of the parts is neither necessary nor sufficient for understanding the whole
- 3.
Here Lovejoy is referring to the Scholastic maxim that there cannot be more “reality” or “perfection” in an effect than in its cause. Anselm, Hakim (1997, 222–5) and Descartes (2006, 105–10) famously used this maxim in their “ontological arguments”—as Kant (2006a, b, c, 563) would later call them—for the existence of God.
- 4.
French ecologist Bergandi (1995) questions Odum’s claims by pointing out the problems in the contention that ecosystem ecology is “reductionistic holism.” According to Bergandi, reductionism and holism are mutually exclusive, and in claiming to hybridize the two methodologies, Odum doesn’t remain observant of the ontological and epistemological presuppositions of holism. “Reductionistic holism” is a chimera, which obfuscates the need for a truly holistic ecology.
- 5.
Simberloff’s paper is significant in the history of the philosophy of ecology. Nonetheless his characterizations are problematic if not inaccurate. American philosopher Marjorie Grene excoriates Simberloff for renouncing “standards of accuracy that, at least in the layman’s view, ought to govern their discourse as scientists” (1980, 41). Simberloff, for example, equates essentialism-idealism with the ancient Greeks (omitting Fichte, Hegel, and Berkeley), Greek thought with idealism (omitting Democritus), and idealism with determinism (this is not true, since Hobbes was a materialist determinist).
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Keller, D.R. (2019). Reductionism, Holism, and Hierarchy Theory. In: Ecology and Justice—Citizenship in Biotic Communities. Studies in Global Justice, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11636-1_5
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