organicism

biology

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July 1, 2026

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Organicism is a philosophical viewpoint that explains life and living processes by focusing on the organization of living systems rather than their smallest components. It contrasts with reductionism, which seeks to explain phenomena by breaking them down into their basic parts.123

Organicism also refers to theories that view society or the universe as analogous to a biological organism. This perspective emerged partly as a response to vitalism, a belief in a special nonmaterial life force, which declined due to its limited scientific application. Instead, organicism emphasizes the interconnectedness and emergent properties of biological systems, where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.145

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philosophy of biology
Vitalism and positivism
…to as “holism” or “organicism,” attracted the attention of the British philosophers Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) and Samuel Alexander (1859–1938), who thought that the very order or structure of organisms distinguished them from nonliving things. Others turned to early 20th-century advances in logic and mathematics in an attempt to…
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…to as “holism” or “organicism,” attracted the attention of the British philosophers Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) and Samuel Alexander (1859–1938), who thought that the very order or structure of organisms distinguished them from nonliving things. Others turned to early 20th-century advances in logic and mathematics in an attempt to…
Read More