LESSON 10:

A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE: THE

PHILOSOPER’S WAY

ALAGAO, MARIA EMMANUELLE J.

MONTEMAYOR, JOMAR
LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Discover the framework to understand reality
2. Distinguish holistic perspective from partial point of
view
HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE
The theory of holistic perspective describes different kinds of
interactions, and important aspects of how we as self-aware beings
perceive reality.
The theory of holistic perspective is designed to provide a
framework for understanding reality using the three concepts of:

1. Existence, immaterial as well as material existences

2. Interaction, reflexive and relativistic interactions
3. Interrelation, how we relate to ourselves, each other and all
around us
How do we philosophize?
HOLISM
CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH EMERGENTISM IS THE IDEA OF HOLISM. THE TERM
WAS COINED FROM GREEK WORD HOLOS MEANING TOTAL OR ALL. IT IS A MATTER
OF CRISSCROSSING ETYMOLOGY THAT IS SOUND SIMILAR THE WORDS WHOLE.
THE TWO WORDS DON’T HAVE A COMMON ROOT. HOLOS IS RELATED TO
SANSKRIT SARVA (ALL).
THIS WAS INTRODUCED BY THE POLITICIAN-THINKER JAN
CHRISTIAN SMUTS. IT SAYS ESSENTIALLY THAT EVERYTHING
IS PART OF A WEB, ALL WOVEN INSEPARABLY INTO A LARGER
WHOLE. AS THE PHILOSOPHER JEROME A. STONE WITTILY
PUT IT “FOR SMUTS THE UNIVERSE IS FULL OF WHOLE.”
SO WHEN WE TALK OF INDEPENDENCE,
WHETHER OF INSECTS OR
INDIVIDUALS, OF CULTURES OR
COMMUNITIES, WE ARE UNWITTINGLY
IGNORING THE DEEP INTER-
CONNECTIONS THAT BIND THEM ALL.
SUCH INTERCONNECTIONS, OVERT
AND SUBTLE, ARE PRESENT AND
ACTIVE IN ECOLOGY AND ECONOMICS,
IN PEOPLE AND POLITICS. IN OUR OWN
TIMES HUMAN-RELATED HOLISM IS
GLARINGLY APPARENT IN WHAT WE
CALL GLOBALISM. MINIMIZING, IF NOT
TOTALLY ELIMINATING THE GLOBALLY
BINDING INTERACTIONS AT THE
INTERNATIONAL LEVEL CONSTITUTES
ISOLATIONISM. EVEN HUGE WALLS
CANNOT ERASE THE LINKS OF HOLISM.
2 KINDS OF HOLISM
-METHODOLOGICAL HOLISM MAINTAINS THAT AT EAST SOME
SOCIAL PHENOMENA MUST BE STUDIED AT THEIR OWN
AUTONOMOUS, MACROSCOPIC LEVEL OF ANALYSIS, THAT AT
LEAST SOME SOCIAL “WHOLES” ARE NOT REDUCIBLE TO OR
COMPLETELY EXPLICABLE IN TERMS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR.
-SEMANTIC HOLISM DENIES THE CLAIM THAT ALL
MEANINGFUL STATEMENTS ABOUT LARGE-SCALE SOCIAL
PHENOMENA (E.G., “THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION RESULTED IN
URBANIZATION”) CAN BE TRANSLATED WITHOUT RESIDUE INTO
STATEMENTS ABOUT THE ACTIONS, ATTITUDES, RELATIONS, AND
CIRCUMSTANCES OF INDIVIDUALS.