Definitions for reductionism
rɪˈdʌk ʃəˌnɪz əmre·duc·tion·ism

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. reductionismnoun

   a theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components

2. reductionismnoun

   the analysis of complex things into simpler constituents

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. reductionismnoun

   an approach to studying complex systems or ideas by reducing them to a set of simpler components

2. reductionismnoun

   any of several theories holding that complex systems or ideas can always be reduced to a set of simpler components

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Reductionism

   Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical position that interprets a complex system as the sum of its parts.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. reductionism

   Reductionism is an approach or theory that attempts to understand complex things by breaking them down into their fundamental components or simplest forms. It also asserts that these simpler elements or underlying principles can sufficiently explain the nature of the larger, more complex systems. In other words, it is the idea that larger entities or systems can be understood by analyzing their smaller, more basic parts.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Reductionism

   Reductionism is a philosophical position which holds that a complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts, and that an account of it can be reduced to accounts of individual constituents. This can be said of objects, phenomena, explanation, theories, and meanings. Fragmentalism is an alternative term for reductionism, although fragmentalism is frequently used in a pejorative sense. Reductionism strongly reflects a certain perspective on causality. In a reductionist framework, phenomena that can be explained completely in terms of relations between other more fundamental phenomena, are called epiphenomena. Often there is an implication that the epiphenomenon exerts no causal agency on the fundamental phenomena that explain it. Reductionism does not preclude the existence of what might be called emergent phenomena, but it does imply the ability to understand those phenomena completely in terms of the processes from which they are composed. This reductionist understanding is very different from that usually implied by the term 'emergence', which typically intends that what emerges is more than the sum of the processes from which it emerges. Religious reductionism generally attempts to explain religion by boiling it down to certain nonreligious causes. A few examples of reductionistic explanations for the presence of religion are: that religion can be reduced to humanity's conceptions of right and wrong, that religion is fundamentally a primitive attempt at controlling our environments, that religion is a way to explain the existence of a physical world, and that religion confers an enhanced survivability for members of a group and so is reinforced by natural selection. Anthropologists Edward Burnett Tylor and James George Frazer employed some religious reductionist arguments. Sigmund Freud's idea that religion is nothing more than an illusion, or even a mental illness, and the Marxist view that religion is "the sigh of the oppressed," providing only "the illusory happiness of the people," are two other influential reductionist explanations of religion.

Matched Categories

1. • Analysis
   • Theory

How to pronounce reductionism?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say reductionism in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of reductionism in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of reductionism in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=reductionism
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reductionism
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductionism
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=reductionism