NichtReduktionsbedingungen

NichtReduktion is a term used in philosophy, systems theory, and related disciplines to denote a stance that resists explaining phenomena solely by reducing them to their lowest-level components. It argues that certain properties and dynamics only emerge at higher levels of organization and require analysis that preserves interdependencies across scales.

The word is a German construction, combining nicht and Reduktion, and appears in German-language scholarship on holism, emergence, and complexity. It is often invoked in contrast to strict reductionism and in dialogue with multi-level theories, where context, history, and interaction matter for understanding.

Core concepts include emergence, contextuality, and causal influence that runs across levels (multi-level causation). Methodologically, NichtReduktion favors integrative models, systems theory, and qualitative as well as quantitative approaches that retain higher-level constraints and relationships between components.

Applications span biology, cognitive science, sociology, and ethics, with examples such as consciousness and ecosystem dynamics, where explanation requires more than summing parts. It also serves as a critique of oversimplified models in economics or social policy.

Criticism centers on tensions between explanatory utility and falsifiability, with opponents arguing that some phenomena are ultimately reducible; proponents stress methodological pluralism and the complementary use of reductionist and non-reductionist approaches.

See also reductionism, holism, emergence, complexity theory, systems theory.