Dialectics and reductionism in ecology
@article{Levins2004DialecticsAR, title={Dialectics and reductionism in ecology}, author={Richard A. Levins and Richard C. Lewontin}, journal={Synthese}, year={2004}, volume={43}, pages={47-78} }
ConclusionsBiology above the level of the individual organism — population ecology and genetics, community ecology, biogeography and evolution — requires the study of intrinsically complex systems. But the dominant philosophies of western science have proven to be inadequate for the study of complexity:(1)The reductionist myth of simplicity leads its advocates to isolate parts as completely as possible and study these parts. It underestimates the importance of interactions in theory, and its…
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