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.

Descartes’ cogito, as it has come to be called, made mind more certain for him than matter and led him to the conclusion that the two were separate and fundamentally different. The Cartesian division between mind and matter has had a profound effect on Western thought. It has taught us to be aware of ourselves as isolated egos existing “inside” our

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.

The study of matter begins with the question, “What is it made of?” This leads to the notions of fundamental elements, building blocks; to measuring and quantifying. The study of form asks, “What is the pattern?” And that leads to the notions of order, organization, and relationships. Instead of quantity, it involves quality; instead of measuring,

Twentieth-century science has shown repeatedly that all natural phenomena are ultimately interconnected, and that their essential properties, in fact, derive from their relationships to other things. Hence, in order to explain any one of them completely, we would have to understand all the others, and that is obviously impossible.

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.

as Arne Naess clearly recognized: Care flows naturally if the “self” is widened and deepened so that protection of free Nature is felt and conceived as protection of ourselves…Just as we need no morals to make us breathe…[so] if your “self” in the wide sense embraces another being, you need no moral exhortation to show care…You

systems thinking does not concentrate on basic building blocks but rather on basic principles of organization. Systems thinking is “contextual,” which is the opposite of analytical thinking. Analysis means taking something apart in order to understand it; systems thinking means putting it into the context of a larger whole.