A Comparative Study Of Holism And Reductionism In The Perspective Of Methodology

The contention between holism and reductionism is always a subject of much debate in academic world. The argument in methodology is between strategy for research and research approach with which pattern we should choose to research or handle problem. In the long-term process of scientific practice, people recognized the reasonable value of scientific approach diversity gradually. Holism and reductionism exist advantages and limits of their own in view of methodology. The simple choice is not advisable. First, this article carrys on the research between holism and reductionism in the view of methodology. Second, this article analyse the relationship between them and try to divide the application bounds at last.Holism and reductionism has their own advantages and limitations, reductionism focuses on the detailed analysis of the thing or the part of the system, but no matter how deeply the analyze for these parts, perhaps even the details are considered, but the part is still the part, after all, the study of part can’t replace the recognition of things or the whole system, and the study of part can’t be mechanically accumulated into the overall understanding. Because no matter how close the link between the whole and the parts, the understanding of the whole can’t be apart from the parts, as the understanding of part can’t be apart from the whole. Since the 20 th century, with the rise and development of the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and the complexity science, holism has become the philosophical foundation of the development of these disciplines, at the same time it also makes the holism philosophy itself alive, and has made significant progress.This article discriminated the confusion between advantages and limits. Those confusion includes whole and partial connotation, the strong and weak view ofadvantages and limits and the confusion between ontology, epistemology and methodology. Then this chapter analysed the criticism of reductionism and the inevitability of the the rising holism, in order to put forward the standpoint of holism contains reductionism which means reductionism is the special shape of holism.The thinking method of reductionism has its insurmountable narrowness, it need to use holistic thinking method to compensate. How to choose in the practical application of holism and reductionism ?The mathematical relationship between linear and nonlinear in essence is the reflect of interaction and relationship of linear and nonlinear existence in the real world. Reductionism is applicable to reducible parts in the linear perspective. The unreducible parts in the linear perspective are equal to nonlinear, namely, within the reducible parts in linear perspective and nonlinear, reductionism method is not applicable, so the holistic approach is more reasonable. In the process of system evolution, reductionism method is not applicable for the most part, so it needs holism to solve. Ecological holism is the development trend of holism. Ecological holism is a kind of organic holism thought, based on ecological science and system theory, synergetics, self-organization theory and other theories of complexity science, it has the advantages of wholeness, organic, relational, and procedural.