holism - Definitions from Dictionary.com

3 results for: holism

ho·lism

Audio Help [hoh-liz-uh

–noun Philosophy.

1.	the theory that whole entities, as fundamental components of reality, have an existence other than as the mere sum of their parts. Compare organicism (def. 1).

2.	Also, holiatry. Medicine/Medical. care of the entire patient in all aspects.

3.	Psychology. any psychologic system postulating that the human mind must be studied as a unit rather than as a sum of its individual parts.

[Origin: hol- + -ism; term introduced by J.C. Smuts in Holism and Evolution (1926)

]

—Related forms

holist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
holism

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ho·lism Audio Help (hō'lĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

The theory that living matter or reality is made up of organic or unified wholes that are greater than the simple sum of their parts.
A holistic investigation or system of treatment.

ho'list n.

holism
noun
the theory that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to the whole; "holism holds that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"; "holistic theory has been applied to ecology and language and mental states" [ant: atomic theory]