Holism and Reductionism and Polls

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RWStanding
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Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 12:23 pm

Holism and Reductionism and Polls

Post by RWStanding »

Holism and Reductionism and Polls
One great mistake we can make in ethics is to employ reductionist thinking where we should use holism, and the reverse.
Nelson is not lauded by England as a person, but as an admiral in a particular set of situations. From an English holistic viewpoint he did us great service. Holistically as a person he may have been very suspect, but he was a great person in a reductionist way as an admiral.
Society itself is divided in a similar way. We have a dangerous reductionist view of society as based on an aggregate of individuals. Opinion polls make ample use of this, if they are used simply in the fashion of Brexit. A widespread aggregate of short term self-interest in favour of something, provides a democratic decision.
Altruist society, on the other hand, is essentially holistic, and considers all interests.
Tyranny, as set against both of the previous, may have some appearance of holism, but treats the whole as a unity with the ‘king’ as its head.
Opinion about individual transport schemes, in a national society based on an aggregate of individuals, would probably decide on the basis of rapid transit from A to B, with those who live on the route a mere minority. As a result the country would be a grid of motorways, outside the popular honeypots. The same would apply to housing with the whole country at risk.
It is forgotten that sensible democracy, as in federal USA, is not based on a simple majority, and does not compare states on the basis of population. Every state is equal in the senate. On the same basis the mere fact of one town being larger than another should not make it a dictator to the lesser party.
And above all we live in the natural world with limited resources, which must be accorded its rights – altruistically.
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