reductionism
Use Reductionism in a sentence
ʃəˌnɪz 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To reductionism
Collins
World English Dictionary
reductionism (rɪˈdʌkʃəˌnɪzəm) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —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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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Reductionism
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
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.
Learn more about reductionism with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
We sense the truth of the new order intuitively, not through reductionism.
Reductionism is all well and good as a method for collecting, and in a more limited sense, interpreting data.
Constructing a technology league table is always mired in reductionism.
Ultimately, even our higher thought processes can be reduced to the same binomial reductionism.
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