The Systems View of Life

The fallacy of the reductionist view lies in the fact that, while there is nothing wrong in saying that the structures of all living organisms are composed of smaller parts, and ultimately of molecules, this does not imply that their properties can be explained in terms of molecules alone.

Last, the theoretical model is tested by further observations and, if possible, additional experiments.

The philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels (1859–1932) used the German word Gestalt, meaning “organic form,” to describe an irreducible perceptual pattern, which sparked the school of Gestalt psychology. To characterize a Gestalt, Ehrenfels coined the celebrated phrase, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts,” which would become the catchphrase

the ultimate reality, which underlies and unifies the multiple phenomena we observe, is intrinsically dynamic. They called it Tao – the way, or process, of the universe.

This implies that one should be able to understand all aspects of complex structures – plants, animals, or the human body – by reducing them to their smallest constituent parts. This philosophical position is known as Cartesian reductionism.

As we discuss in Section 4.3, the essential properties of a living system are emergent properties – properties that are not found in any of the parts but emerge at the level of the system as a whole.

First, it involves the systematic observation of the phenomena being studied and the recording of these observations as evidence, or scientific data.

the Cartesian division, the humanities concentrating on the res cogitans and the natural sciences on the res extensa.

According to the systems view, an organism, or living system, is an integrated whole whose essential properties cannot be reduced to those of its parts. They arise from the interactions and relationships between the parts.

Next, scientists attempt to interconnect the data in a coherent way, free of internal contradictions. The resulting representation is known as a scientific model.