creators_name: Edmonds, Bruce
editors_name: Aerts, Diederik
type: journalp
datestamp: 2001-08-30
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:46
metadata_visibility: show
title: Pragmatic Holism
ispublished: pub
subjects: phil-sci
full_text_status: public
keywords: pragmatism, holism, reductionism, representation, modelling, heuristics
abstract: The reductionist/holist debate seems an impoverished one, with many participants appearing to adopt a position first and constructing rationalisations second. Here I propose an intermediate position of pragmatic holism, that irrespective of whether all natural systems are theoretically reducible, for many systems it is completely impractical to attempt such a reduction, also that regardless if whether irreducible `wholes' exist, it is vain to try and prove this in absolute terms. This position thus illuminates the debate along new pragmatic lines, and refocusses attention on the underlying heuristics of learning about the natural world.
date: 1996-02
date_type: published
publication: Foundations of Science
volume: 4
number: 1
pagerange: 57-82
refereed: TRUE
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citation:   Edmonds, Bruce  (1996) Pragmatic Holism.  [Journal (Paginated)]     
document_url: http://cogprints.org/1774/1/pragholA4.ps
document_url: http://cogprints.org/1774/5/praghol.pdf