reductionist - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

re·duc·tion·ism

Audio Help [ri-duhk-shuh-niz-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the theory that every complex phenomenon, esp. 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, esp. to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting it.

[Origin: 1940–45; reduction + -ism

]

—Related forms

re·duc·tion·ist, noun, adjective

re·duc·tion·is·tic, adjective

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

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
reductionist

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

re·duc·tion·ism Audio Help (rĭ-dŭk'shə-nĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n. An attempt or tendency to explain a complex set of facts, entities, phenomena, or structures by another, simpler set: "For the last 400 years science has advanced by reductionism ... The idea is that you could understand the world, all of nature, by examining smaller and smaller pieces of it. When assembled, the small pieces would explain the whole" (John Holland).

re·duc'tion·ist adj. & n., re·duc'tion·is'tic adj.

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