On Reductionism (1)

[Lycidas at worldnet.att.net]

http://www.mun.ca/animus/current/andrews.htm
http://smith2.sewanee.edu/gsmith/Texts/Ecology/OnReductionism.html
 From a collection of essays titled _From Gaia to Selfish
 Genes_ edited by Connie Barlow (c) 1991 Massachusetts
Institute
 of Technology.  This particular passage was drawn from
Ludwig von
 Bertalanffy's _Problems of Life_ (c) 1952 John Wiley &
Sons:

    It appeared to be the goal of biological research to
resolve
 the complex entities and processes that confront us in
living
 nature into elementary units--to analyze them--in order to
 explain them by means of the juxtaposition or summation of
these
 elementary units and processes.  Procedure in classical
physics
 supplied the pattern.  Thus chemistry resolves material
bodies
 into elementary components--molecules and atoms; physics
 considers a storm that tears down a tree as the sum of
movements
 of air particles, the heat of a body as the sum of the
energy of
 motion of molecules, and so on.  A corresponding procedure
was
 applied in all biological fields, as some examples will
easily
 show.

    Biochemistry investigates the individual chemical
constituents
 of living bodies and the chemical processes going on within
 them.  In this way it specifies the chemical compounds
found in
 the cell and the organism as well as their reactions.  The
 classical "cell theory" considered cells as the elementary
units
 of life, comparable to atoms as the elementary units of
chemical
 compounds.  So a multicellular organism appeared
morphologically
 as an aggregate of such building units.  Genetics
considered the
 organism as an aggregate of characters going back to a
 corresponding aggregate of genes in the germ cells,
transmitted
 and acting independently of each other.  Accordingly, the
theory
 of natural selection resolved living beings into a complex
of
 characters, some useful, others disadvantageous, which
 characters, or rather their corresponding genes, are
transmitted
 independently, thus through natural selection affording the
 opportunity for the elimination of unfavorable characters,
while
 allowing the favorable ones to survive and accumulate.

    The same principle could be shown to operate in every
field of
 biology, and in medicine, psychology, and sociology as
well.  The
 examples given will suffice, however, to show that the
principle
 of analysis and summation has been directive of all fields.
 Analysis of the individual parts and processes in living
things
 is necessary, and is the prerequisite for all deeper
 understanding.  Taken alone, however, analysis is not
sufficient.

Ernst Mayr distinguishes three kinds of REDUCTIONISM:

 _Constitutive reductionism_ (or ontological reductionism,
or
 analysis), which is a method of studying objects by
inquiring into
 their basic constituents; _theory reductionism_, which is
the
 explanation of a whole theory in terms of a more inclusive
theory;
 and _explanatory reductionism_, which is the view 'that the
mere
 knowledge of its ultimate components would be sufficient to
explain
 a complex system'."         Source: Steven Weinberg,
_Dreams of a
 Final Theory_, p.54 (from the chapter "Two Cheers for
 Reductionism").  Weinberg refers to Mayr's article "The
Limits of
 Reductionism" in _Nature_ 331 (1987): 475.

REDUCTIONISM:
      "1.  The belief that human behavior can be reduced to
or
 interpreted in terms of that of lower animals;  and that,
 ultimately,  can itself be reduced to the physical laws
controlling
 the behavior of  inanimate matter.  Pavlov with dogs,
Skinner with
 rats, and Lorenz with  greylag geese have all used lower
animals to
 illustrate instinctive  behavioral patterns that can, by
analogy,
 be correlated with some  aspects of human behaviors.
      2.   More generally, any doctrine that claims to
reduce the
 apparently more sophisticated and complex to the less so."
                          Flew, 1979, art. "reductionism (or
reductivism)"

      "Reductionism may take many forms, e.g., in the
interpretation
 of  religion it may take the form of reducing all religious
values
 to an  ethical core they are supposed to contain, or to
 psychological values  that exclude the consideration of
ontological
 questions, or to  aesthetic values in which religion is
recognized
 for its worth in  producing great art forms.  It is a
common trap
 for beginners in  religious studies."

                               MacGregor, 1989, art.
"reductionism"