?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Holism%2C+Mental+and+Semantic&rft.creator=Block%2C+Ned&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.description=Mental+(or+semantic)+holism+is+the+doctrine+that+the+identity+of+a+belief+content+(or+the+meaning+of+a+sentence+that+expresses+it)+is+determined+by+its+place+in+the+web+of+beliefs+or+sentences+comprising+a+whole+theory+or+group+of+theories.+It+can+be+contrasted+with+two+other+views%3A+atomism+and+molecularism.+Molecularism+characterizes+meaning+and+content+in+terms+of+relatively+small+parts+of+the+web+in+a+way+that+allows+many+different+theories+to+share+those+parts.+For+example%2C+the+meaning+of+'chase'+might+be+said+by+a+molecularist+to+be+try+to+catch.+Atomism+characterizes+meaning+and+content+in+terms+of+none+of+the+web%3B+it+says+that+sentences+and+beliefs+have+meaning+or+content+independently+of+their+relations+to+other+sentences+or+beliefs.++One+major+motivation+for+holism+has+come+from+reflections+on+the+natures+of+confirmation+and+learning.+As+Quine+(1953)+observed%2C+claims+about+the+world+are+confirmed+not+individually%2C+but+only+in+conjunction+with+theories+of+which+they+are+a+part.+And+typically%2C+one+cannot+come+to+understand+scientific+claims+without+understanding+a+significant+chunk+of+the+theory+of+which+they+are+a+part.+For+example%2C+in+learning+the+Newtonian+concepts+of+'force'%2C+'mass'%2C+kinetic+energy'+and+'momentum'%2C+one+doesn't+learn+any+definitions+of+these+terms+in+terms+that+are+understood+beforehand%2C+for+there+are+no+such+definitions.+Rather%2C+these+theoretical+terms+were+all+learned+together+in+conjunction+with+procedures+for+solving+problems.++The+major+problem+with+holism+is+that+it+threatens+to+make+generalization+in+psychology+virtually+impossible.+If+the+content+of+any+state+depends+on+all+others%2C+it+would+be+extremely+unlikely+that+any+two+believers+would+ever+share+a+state+with+the+same+content.+Moreover%2C+holism+would+appear+to+conflict+with+our+ordinary+conception+of+reasoning.+What+sentences+one+accepts+influence+what+one+infers.+if+i+accept+a+sentence+and+then+later+reject+it%2C+i+thereby+change+the+inferential+role+of+that+sentence%2C+so+the+meaning+of+what+i+accept+wouldn't+be+the+same+as+what+i+later+reject.+but+then+it+would+be+difficult+to+understand+on+this+view+how+one+could+rationally+--or+even+irrationally!--+change+one's+mind.+and+agreement+and+translation+are+also+problematic+for+much+the+same+reason.+holists+have+responded+(1)+by+proposing+that+we+should+think+not+in+terms+of+%22same%2Fdifferent%22+meaning+but+in+terms+of+a+gradient+of+similarity+of+meaning%2C+(2)+by+proposing+%22two+factor%22+theories+or+(3)+by+simply+accepting+the+consequence+that+there+is+no+real+difference+between+changing+meanings+and+changing+beliefs.&rft.date=1996&rft.type=Book+Chapter&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F233%2F1%2F199712006.html&rft.identifier=++Block%2C+Ned++(1996)+Holism%2C+Mental+and+Semantic.++%5BBook+Chapter%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F233%2F