reductionismThe idea that nature can be understood by taking it apart. In other words, knowing the lowest-level details of how things work (at, say, the level of subatomic physics) reveals how higher-level phenomena come about. This is a bottom-up way of looking at the universe, and is the exact opposite of holism. Related category PHILOSOPHYAlso on this site: Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living Encyclopedia of History |