holism
Systems over parts
Holism is the idea that systems should be understood as wholes rather than as collections of parts.
In medicine, holistic approaches treat the entire person—body, mind, and circumstances—rather than isolated symptoms.
The term applies broadly: ecological holism, holistic education.
The opposite view, that wholes can be fully explained by their components, is reductionism.
State of mutual linkage
- unityWholeness through cohesion
- totalityComplete aggregate amount
- synthesisCombining parts into whole
- coherenceLogical internal consistency
gestalt · systems thinking · reductionism · dualism · monism · organicism · vitalism · teleology
Interconnected organisms and surroundings
- interconnectednessState of mutual linkage
- biodiversityRange of life forms
- biosphereAll life on Earth
- food webInterconnected predator-prey relationships
symbiosis · keystone species · habitat · sustainability · conservation · ecological balance · interdependence · environmental
Combining into a whole
- wellnessOverall state of health
- mind-bodyMental-physical relationship
- naturopathyAlternative healing using nature
- ayurvedaIndian traditional medicine system
acupuncture · homeopathy · chiropractic · osteopathy · preventive · complementary · alternative · healing
State of being complicated
- self-organizationSpontaneous internal structure emergence
- nonlinearityDisproportionate cause and effect
- feedback loopsSelf-modifying response cycles
- cyberneticsCommunication and control science
chaos theory · adaptation · network effects · collective behavior · synergy · irreducibility
interconnectedness
State of mutual linkage
coherence · gestalt · systems thinking · reductionism · dualism · monism · organicism · vitalism · teleology · epistemology
ecosystem
Interconnected organisms and surroundings
- interconnectednessState of mutual linkage
- biodiversityRange of life forms
- biosphereAll life on Earth
food web · symbiosis · keystone species · habitat · sustainability · conservation · ecological balance · interdependence · environmental · coevolution
integrative
Combining into a whole
- wellnessOverall state of health
- mind-bodyMental-physical relationship
- naturopathyAlternative healing using nature
ayurveda · acupuncture · homeopathy · chiropractic · osteopathy · preventive · complementary · alternative · healing · biofeedback
complexity
State of being complicated
- self-organizationSpontaneous internal structure emergence
- nonlinearityDisproportionate cause and effect
- feedback loopsSelf-modifying response cycles
cybernetics · chaos theory · adaptation · network effects · collective behavior · synergy · irreducibility
- connectionslink, links, connect, connection, tie
- ismscapitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, racism
- anthropologyanthropology, fieldwork, ethnography, social anthropology, cultural anthropology
- metaphysicsessence, being, reality, existence, substance theory
- philosophiesempiricism, stoicism, nihilism, idealism, materialism
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
holismatomism
Discrete particles compose everything
reductionism · elementalism · particularism · individualism · analysis
holismreductionism
Explaining wholes through parts
atomism · compartmentalization · mechanism · specialization · fragmentation
- holistic healingTreatment of whole self
- holistic careTreatment addressing all aspects
- holistic medicineTreatment considering entire person
- holistic healthCare for complete wellbeing
- holistic treatmentCare for the whole person
- holistic therapyTreatment addressing complete wellbeing