reductionism
Sign in to savethumb|René Descartes, in De homine (1662), claimed that non-human animals could be explained reductively as automata; meaning essentially as more mechanically complex versions of this [[Digesting Duck.]]
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Definitions
- Ontological reductionism
- Methodological reductionism
- In religion
- Theory reductionism
- In mathematics
- In science
- In computer science
- Criticism
- Free will
- Causation
- In science
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|René Descartes, in De homine (1662), claimed that non-human animals could be explained reductively as automata; meaning essentially as more mechanically complex versions of this [[Digesting Duck.]]
Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical position that interprets a complex system as the sum of its parts, contrary to holism. Reductionism tends to focus on the small, predictable details of a system and is often associated with various philosophies like emergence, materialism, and determinism.