PEAC Certified

SELF – LEARNING
MODULE IN
INTRODUCTION TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF THE
HUMAN PERSON
FIRST QUARTER –
MODULE 3
DOING PHILOSOPY

ALEX A. DUMANDAN

STUDENT NAME: _______________________________________________________________

MODULE 3-FIRST QUARTER TOPIC: APPROACHES IN DOING
PHILOSOPHY: REDUCTIONIST AND
HOLISTIC
OVERVIEW:

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help
you master the nature of Philosophy. The scope of this module permits it to be used
in many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse
vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard
sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be changed to
correspond with the textbook you are now using.
The module is divided into three parts, namely:
• Part 1 – Approaches in Doing Philosophy: Analytic and Speculative
• Part 2 – Approaches in Doing Philosophy: Reductionist and Holistic
CONTENT STANDARD: Demonstrates understanding of …
the meaning and process of doing philosophy
PERFORMANCE STANDARD: Learners should be able…
reflects on a concrete experience in a philosophical way
LEARNING COMPETENCY: Recognize human activities that emanated from
deliberate reflection. (PPT11/12-Ib-1.2)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
K: Differentiate reductionist from holistic approach in philosophy.
S: Deliberate reflections in holistic perspective.
A: Appreciate the smallest details of life and the larger picture as a whole.

CONTENT:

Let’s now proceed with the other two approaches in philosophy: REDUCTIONIST and
HOLISTIC!

REAL TALK:
• Reductionism is the belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it
down into simpler component parts.
• Holism is a theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such
that they cannot exist independently of the whole, or cannot be understood
without reference to the whole, which is thus regarded as greater than the sum of
its parts.

Examine this simple example.

 Fig.1 fig.2

The figure above is called gunpla, a short term for Gundam plastic model. Figure 1
shows a part by part disassembled gunpla while figure 2 is a whole fix toy model. In simple
words, these can be used as model on how reductionist and holistic approach work.
Reductionist in a sense that the parts are important to create a full assembled toy model; it
is so important that you need to know every single detail of each parts to understand the
whole. Holistic in a sense that what matters most is the significance of the wholeness of this
gunpla, yet it can only be understood as a whole if we look closer to its parts. Makes sense?
Let’s an activity!

Draw your face!

1. Draw your preferred face in complete details as you can.

2. After drawing yourself, answer the following questions:
a. Which part of your face has the most important function?
Explain your answer.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

b. Which part of your face is the most used part?

Explain your answer.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

c. Is there a connection among the parts of your face? Explain

why yes or no.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
 Let’s analyze your “face”
But not Aristotle’s face, we are just going to
have a figure to look at so we can explain
visually your activity (we will mention
Aristotle later).

A face is compose of two eyes, one nose,

a pair of ears, a mouth with a set of teeth and
one tongue, cheeks, forehead, hair and facial
hair.

Each part has its own unique function.

Each part is used every single day.

Are there any connections among these parts?

Your answers may vary with someone

else’s thoughts, simply because your face is
different from others. You are unique. You
may say that your eyes are the most used every day because your eyes start its
duty as you wake up in the morning. You may say that your mouth has the most
important function because without a mouth, it would be difficult for you to eat or
be nourished. You may say that each part is connected with others; example, you
cannot enjoy the movie with hearing the sound; you cannot enjoy your food with
being mesmerized by just looking at it; you cannot enjoy a song if you cannot sing
it. How about your hair? Well, it matters. Aristotle is Aristotle with that kind of hair.

Kidding aside, the ultimate question for this module is this…

“What would be the relevance of the wholeness of being?

LET’S LEARN MORE!

The activity was done to achieve a certain goal: to identify each part and see the
connection of it as a whole. Same is true with the Reductionism and Holism
ideology. We already mentioned the definition in the REALTALK part of this module
– we have seen the difference between. But then again we are not going to settle for
less. Let’s take a closer look!

According to Willy Ostreng in his artitle entitled Reductionism versus Holism,

the difference between these two ideologies is their focus – the truth of the matter.
The former focuses on the properties of each part while the latter’s emphasis is on
the relationship between them. The truth of the matter in using a reductionist
approach is all about the function of the parts of the whole – we lean towards the
details of a whole - while the truth of the matter in using the holistic approach is
the wholeness of ‘being’; understanding a certain subject as a whole, reconnecting
each part to convey the ultimate truth.

Reductionism was first introduced by René

Descartes, the father of modern philosophy.
According to Vinzons, “he likened the
world to a machine with pieces working
like a clockwork mechanism.” Descartes
would like us to understand that the
machine can only be understood if
we take its pieces apart and
examine each before putting it
back together to comprehend the
bigger picture. From the word
itself, ‘reduce’ – breaking down
the pieces, reducing all that is in
it, to fully realize the truth of the
matter. After all, the machine will
not work without the pieces within
it – it will not function as a whole,
part by part is essential.

Holism is the “idea that This approach in philo-

something can be more sophy was summed
than the sum of its parts.” up by Aristotle in his
Meaning to say, we shall Metaphysics. He had
understand everything, been using this holistic
all in reality, all that is approach and it wasn’t
comprehensible, as a popularized not until
WHOLE. Just like 1926 that the
its origin – holos term “holism”
- a Greek word was presented
which means ‘all’, by Jan Smuts.
‘total’, or ‘whole’. This approach is
indeed contrasted
from reductionism.

According to Vinzons, “the fundamental assumption underpinning the

holistic perspective is that the properties of the parts contribute to the
understanding of the whole.” The relevance of the wholeness of being is
defined by the parts of it – meaning, there is indeed interconnectedness
among the parts of the subject matter to convey the wholeness of reality. But
take note, this is the counterpart of reductionism, therefore the totality of
being is important and it refuses to divide the parts apart from the
wholeness of being.

Let us be reminded that we are in preparation to understand the philosophy

of the human person. One thing that we need to consider is that a human person
cannot be understood in one factor or one side of the story. We will create prejudices
if we do so. Therefore, just like what’s mandated by the curriculum guide, we are
going to use the holistic approach in doing philosophy.

But it doesn’t mean that we are going to neglect or set aside the other
approaches that we learned. Just like what reductionism is telling us; each
approach in philosophy is relevant and can be used to philosophize – we can always
be analytic in every manner as we seek knowledge; we can also be speculative at
thoughts being perceived; and we are capable now to reduce a certain topic into its
parts for us to comprehend. Finally, we look at the bigger picture of all things
intelligible – the wholeness as one, interconnected with all around.

o be incomplete without your presence – this principle could be applicable to

all aspects; at home, in our community, in social media, etc.

How about the holistic approach?

o We look into the wholeness of the person, not just in one piece of his/her
being.
o Holism helps us to take away our prejudices – in such a way that we focus
on the wholeness, not by part. Example, we will not discuss EDSA revolution
as our sole jumping board towards the concept of freedom. It will definitely
create biases if we do.
o When we practice a holistic perspective, we can deliberate ideas
philosophically because being holistic is congruent with being open-minded
to all possible realities.