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Holistic Education Network ...
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The Holistic World View
The holistic world view has its roots in the new physics, systems thinking
and ecology, holism and perennial philosophy. (See also Historical and Contemporary Influences on Holistic Education)
The New Physics - A Revolution in Physics...
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Between the 16th and 18th centuries there was a dramatic shift in
the way people observed and thought about the Universe. This new system of thought was
based on the philosophy of Rene Descartes who promoted a mathematical description of
nature and the use of analytic thought - the Cartesian System. Descartes' vision was to
give a precise and complete account of all natural phenomena with absolute mathematical
certainty. To accomplish this he compared natural phenomena with machines. Descartes even
drew parallels between a sick man and an ill-made clock.
Later Isaac Newton synthesised the works of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Descartes
into a complete mathematical formulation of Nature - Newtonian Mechanics. Towards the end
of the 19th century scientists believed that eventually all natural phenomena would be
explained by reducing them to the motion and interaction of particles. |
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reductionism led to the expectation that:
PHYSICS would eventually explain CHEMISTRY;
CHEMISTRY would explain BIOLOGY; and
BIOLOGY would explain PSYCHOLOGY.
Love, joy and courage had been reduced to
chemical reactions within the brain.
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This view is still generally accepted even though we now know that the
application of Cartesian reductionism has severe limitations.
According to Paul Davies:
"The dawn of [the 20th] century heralded an explosion of ideas
which shattered the cosy notions of reality that had endured for centuries. Many cherished
beliefs and unquestioned assumptions were swept away. The old world view of a rational and
mechanistic universe, ordered by rigid laws of cause and effect, collapsed into oblivion,
to be replaced by a mystical world of paradox and surrealism."
The universe was no longer seen as a machine,
made up of a multitude of separate parts,
but as a harmonious indivisible whole;
a network of dynamic relationships that even included
the consciousness of the human observer in an essential way.
In atomic physics the sharp Cartesian division between mind and matter, between the
observer and the observed, can no longer be maintained. In spite of this change to a
holistic view within physics most contemporary thought is still based on implicit
reductionistic and mechanistic assumptions of the 19th century (see below).
See also Newtonian and Quantum
Thinking
Systems Thinking & Ecology...
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According to Fritjof Capra, the Cartesian view of living
organisms as machines, constructed from separate parts, still provides the dominant
conceptual framework in biology. And much of psychology is based not only on the Cartesian
world view but incorporates the basic concepts of Newtonian mechanics into most
theoretical frameworks.
However the holistic perspective has not been entirely absent in these
disciplines. A new way of thinking called "systems thinking" emerged during the
first few decades this century in some schools of biology, psychology and in ecology.
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| Organismic biology for example emphasises the view of
living organisms as integrated wholes whose properties cannot be reduced to those of the
smaller parts. Gestalt psychologists discovered that living organisms do not perceive
things in terms of isolated elements but but in terms of integrated perceptual patterns.
The famous saying 'the whole is more than the sum of its parts' was coined by
gestalt psychologists. Ecologists who focussed on the study of animal
and plant communities observed networks of relationships - the web of life. They found a
new way of thinking - thinking in terms of relationships, connectedness, context.
According to Capra:
"We may call this ecological thinking, or systems thinking. It is based
on the fundamental shift of perception from the world as a machine to the world as a
living system. This shift concerns our perception of nature, of the human organism, and of
society.
Systems thinking involves shifting our attention from the parts to the whole,
from objects to relationships, from structures to processes, from hierarchies to networks.
It also includes shifts of emphasis from the rational to the intuitive, from analysis to
synthesis, from linear to nonlinear thinking."
(from Guide to Ecoliteracy, The Elmwood Institute)
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Holism
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Holism asserts that everything exists in relationship, in a context of
connection and meaning -- and that any change or event causes a realignment,
however slight, throughout the entire pattern. “The whole is greater than
the sum of its parts” means that the whole is comprised of a pattern of
relationships that are not contained by the parts but ultimately define them.
Holism,
stands in stark opposition to the method of reductionism, which holds that
analysis, dissection, and strict definition are the tools for understanding reality.
Holism asserts that phenomena can never be fully understood in
isolation; it asserts that reductionism can only give us a partial view of
anything it dissects.
Holism
is difficult to pin down precisely, because by its very nature it embraces
paradox, mystery, and contradiction.
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The
Perennial Philosophy
Perennial
philosophy holds that all things are part of an indivisible unity or whole. In brief, the basic principles of perennial philosophy can be
identified as follows:
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There
is an interconnectedness of reality and a fundamental unity in the
universe.
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There
is an intimate connection between the individual’s inner or higher self
and this unity.
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In
order to see this unity we need to cultivate intuition through
contemplation and meditation.
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Value
is derived from seeing and realising the interconnectedness of reality.
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The
realisation of this unity among human beings leads to social activity
designed to counter injustice and human suffering.
These
principles have been articulated in different spiritual and intellectual
traditions in both the east and the West.
In the West the perennial philosophy can be traced to early Greek
times.
Source: Miller, Jack (1996) The Holistic Curriculum.
OISE Press: Ontario
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What are your assumptions?
| 1. |
(a) Thought is a product of brain activity.
(b) The universe is more like a thought than a thing. |
| 2. |
(a) The universe does not exist for any purpose.
(b) Purpose is found everywhere within the universe. |
| 3. |
(a) Most of the universe is dead.
(b) The universe is alive. |
| 4. |
(a) Reality can be perceived through the five senses.
(b) There is an extra-sensory reality. |
| 5. |
(a) Reasoning is the highest skill possessed by humans.
(b) Reason and intuition are equally valuable skills. |
| 6. |
(a) We are probably the only intelligent life-form in the universe.
(b) There is probably intelligent life throughout the universe. |
| 7. |
(a) We have a good understanding of our origin and evolution.
(b) We are only beginning to understand our origin and evolution. |
| 8. |
(a) We are determined by our genetic inheritance and environment.
(b) We can transcend our genetic inheritance and environment. |
| 9. |
(a) The only memories we have access to are our own.
(b) We are capable of collective or transpersonal awareness. |
| 10. |
(a) Only the present moment exists.
(b) The past, present and future all exist at some level of reality. |
| 11. |
(a) A coincidence is nothing more than a meaningless curiosity.
(b) A coincidence is a meaningful link between different events. |
| 12. |
(a) A person who claims to have spontaneous spiritual experiences is
probably mentally ill.
(b) Spontaneous spiritual experiences are the natural expression of the higher-self. |
| 13. |
(a) Fulfilment is achieved when physiological and safety needs are
satisfied.
(b) Fulfilment is achieved when physiological, safety, belonginess, self-esteem,
self-actualization and self-transcendant needs are satisfied. |
| 14. |
(a) Local events rarely have global consequences.
(b) Local events affect the entire universe. |
| 15. |
(a) You can understand the whole by studying its parts.
(b) The whole is more than the sum of its parts. |
Most of the statements labelled 'a' are based on reductionistic materialistic
assumptions common in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Last Update
April 11, 2004