reduceïsme

Reduceïsme, or reductionism, is a philosophical stance asserting that complex phenomena can be explained by reducing them to their constituent parts or to fundamental laws. It can be classified as ontological (reality consists of basic entities and forces), methodological (scientific inquiry should proceed by analyzing parts and laws), or epistemological (knowledge about a system derives from knowledge of its components).

Historically associated with the scientific revolution and the later success of physics and chemistry, reductionism has shaped approaches across biology, psychology, and the social sciences. It is often contrasted with holism and emergentism, which argue that higher-level properties or behaviors cannot be fully explained by lower-level components alone.

Examples commonly discussed include gene- or molecular-level explanations of traits in biology; neural explanations of mental states in neuroscience; and macro-level analyses in sociology and economics that aim to derive social phenomena from actions of individuals. Proponents argue that reduction provides explanatory power and predictive success across disciplines.

Critics argue that certain phenomena exhibit emergent properties, feedback loops, or context-dependent behavior that resist straightforward reduction. Non-reductive physicalism, systems theory, and holist philosophies offer alternative frameworks. In practice, scientists often employ reductionist methods as initial steps while acknowledging the limits of reduction for complex systems.