reductionism

[ri-duhk-shuh-niz-uhm]

re·duc·tion·ism

[ri-duhk-shuh-niz-uhm]
noun
1.
the theory that every complex phenomenon, especially in biology or psychology, can be explained by analyzing the simplest, most basic physical mechanisms that are in operation during the phenomenon.
2.
the practice of simplifying a complex idea, issue, condition, or the like, especially to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting it.

Origin:
1940–45; reduction + -ism

re·duc·tion·ist, noun, adjective
re·duc·tion·is·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Reductionism is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Collins
World English Dictionary
reductionism (rɪˈdʌkʃəˌnɪzəm)
 
n
1.  the analysis of complex things, data, etc, into less complex constituents
2.  derogatory often any theory or method that holds that a complex idea, system, etc, can be completely understood in terms of its simpler parts or components
 
re'ductionist
 
n, —adj
 
reduction'istic
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

reductionism

in philosophy, a view that asserts that entities of a given kind are collections or combinations of entities of a simpler or more basic kind or that expressions denoting such entities are definable in terms of expressions denoting the more basic entities. Thus, the ideas that physical bodies are collections of atoms or that thoughts are combinations of sense impressions are forms of reductionism.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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