An Analysis Of Ulanowicz's Ecological Holism

The debate between holism and reductionism is one of the most important debates in the field of philosophy of science.In other classic scientific fields,reductionism dominates,but in the field of ecosystems ecology,this debate reveals a completely different theoretical picture,and holism begins to show its superiority.Robert Ulanowicz is one of the most famous ecosystem ecologists in contemporary world.His “Ascendancy” theory and the “Process Ecology” have made his ecological holism a unique position.In the academic circles at home and abroad,Ulanowicz's ecological holism has not been studied.The paper analyzes his ecological theory and explores its ecological holistic characteristics,thus providing important intellectual resources for the development of ecological philosophy and discussion in the academic community.The article first discusses the origin of Ulanowicz's ecological holism.In science,the development of ecosystem ecology and the evolution of systems science theory constitute its theoretical basis.The game of holism and reductionism in the field of ecology constitutes its philosophical background,which together promote the formation of Ulanowicz's ecological holism.Ulanowicz's ecological holism is contained in his ecological thoughts.Therefore,the second chapter elaborates on the two core contents of Ulanowicz's ecological thought:“Ascendancy” theory and “Process Ecology”.The “Ascendancy” theory quantifies and characterizes the growth and development attributes of the ecosystem.The “Process Ecology”is a new metaphysics that exceeds the Newton and Darwinian images triggered by the“Ascendancy” theory.The third chapter is based on the analysis of the ecological theory of Ulanowicz,and deeply explores the overall picture and essential features of its ecological holism.It has three main characteristics: the “evolutionary holism” characterized by selforganization theory in system science;the “process holism” produced by Bergson's life philosophy and Whitehead's process philosophy;from the perspective of strength and weakness,Ulanowicz's ecological holism belongs to the “moderate holism”.In order to show the characteristics of Ulanowicz's ecological holism more accurately,the fourth chapter of the article compares his thought with the ecological holism of Odum Brothers,Patten and Jorgenson.Overall,Ulanowicz's ecological holism uses more non-reducing research methods,emphasizing the endogenous integrity of the ecosystem,so the discussion is more complete.Finally,the article makes a specific evaluation of the Ulanowicz's ecological holism.From the theoretical contribution,his ecological holism not only provided new theoretical innovations for ecological research,but also enriched and perfected system science theories.From philosophical perspective,his ecological holism makes up for the shortcomings of Newton and Darwin's picture in ecological research,but there are still some limitations so it is likely that it will not achieve its goal of complete transcendence.The uniqueness of ecology has caused the “failure” of reductionism in ecological research,especially in the field of ecosystem ecology,which shows better adaptability than reductionism.Ulanowicz's holism has realized the transcendence of holism on reductionism in ecological research from the specific research methods and metaphysical guidance.It has strong rationality.However,based on the textual analysis of Ulanowicz and the metaphysical questioning of his theory,the author believes that his ecological holism still belongs to a “moderate holism” in a certain sense,and there is still a certain reductionism tendency.In the study of ecosystem ecology,holism has its advantages,but reductionism is also indispensable.Seeking organic integration in the game between the two is the trend of future research.