Reductionism

Reductionism is the idea that macroscale, complex objects can be broken down into the interactions between smaller, simpler objects, and further until it is broken down into the interactions of sub-atomic particles. The main argument for the truth of reductionism is that biology can be explained by chemical reactions and chemical reactions by physics. The main argument against the truth of reductionism is that there are inconsistencies in biology that…

physical respects but differing in some mental respect, or that an object cannot alter in some mental respect without altering in some physical respect (Davidson, 1970/2002, p. 119) An important remark is the fact that supervenience does not entail a reductionism as Davidson (1970/2002) suggests, “Dependence or supervenience of this kind does not entail reducibility” (Davidson, 1970/2002, p. 119). In other words, the fact that the mental properties depend upon or supervene upon physical…

common techniques used to analyze and interpret religion: the non-reductionist approach and the reductionist approach. Non-reductionists do not believe religion can be broken down into simpler terminology. For this paper, I will be focusing on reductionism and providing examples from people we’ve talked about in class this semester. The reductionist approach focuses on explaining religion completely in human terms. Reductionists use non-religious reasonings and explanations to explain things…

Strengths which are related with reductionism, determinism, individual differences and applications. Reductionism because explanations of biological approach are reductionist and these explanations have often proved useful. () For instance, theories as the restoration theory of sleep and theories of schizophrenia that highlight…

a very high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass, or Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. In this paper, a reductionist and complex system science approach to obesity will be addressed, as well as the pros and cons of each view. Reductionism science states that simple physical laws can explain all phenomena. This methodological approach believes that complex systems are simply derived from their elemental properties of the components and the best way to study them is to isolate…

demonstrate that reductionism is alive and well as the media and popular press tend to report psychobiological issues from a reductionist perspective. If…

scientism cannot replace literature, art, philosophy and ethics. First, he explains how scientism is appealing by describing reductionism. “Reductionism is a basic and very successful approach common to the physical and biological science, articulated by Rene Descartes (1596-1650) in his Meditations on First Philosophy” (280). What Pigliucci is trying to say that reductionism analysis something that is complex, like an idea, then move that complex idea into something that is easier to represent…

it’s engaging how he engages his arguments about social sciences, mathematical ideologies, and correlates them back to history. He introduces the idea of reductionism. Reductionism is the belief that you can piece together reality through variables and mathematically it’s basically like solving an equation. Gaddis states; “Nevertheless, reductionism remains the dominant mode of inquiry within the social sciences: historians are still the principal practitioners of an ecological approach to the…

Texts studied in tandem may share common ideas, values and concerns, whilst the paradigms of their individual context shape representation and meaning. A comparison of texts allows for a deeper understanding of the social and cultural commentary offered by their creators. The speculative fiction text The Handmaid’s Tale(1985) written by Margaret Atwood incorporates the 1980s context of different cultural and political ideologies, whilst the revolutionary biotechnology of the 1990s moulds the…

which I will refer to as Genetic Medicine, science is still yet to determine a causal correlation between genotype and social and physical environments, a major weakness of the sick man thesis.(Nettleton, 2008) (Jewson, 2009) However biological reductionism is not without its merits, upon examination of the patient, a doctor can discern pathology, pathogenesis, aetiology and prognosis from basic observation, an unparalleled and albeit biological perspective of the patient and perhaps ascertain…