Definition

1. Noun:
   • A biological and philosophical theory: Organicism is the theory that the total organization of a living being, as a whole, is more important than the function of its individual parts in determining life processes.
   • A holistic approach: It emphasizes that the properties of a complete, integrated system (like an organism) cannot be fully understood by analyzing its components in isolation.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The biologist's research was guided by a belief in organicism, focusing on the whole plant's response to light rather than just its leaves.
  • In philosophy, organicism contrasts with mechanistic views of life, arguing for the primacy of the integrated whole.

Advanced Usage

• In social theory: Organicism can be applied as a metaphor to describe societies or systems that are viewed as integrated, interdependent wholes, similar to a living organism.
  • The philosopher used organicism to describe the state, viewing its institutions as interdependent organs of a single body.

Variants and Related Words

• Organic (adj): Relating to or derived from living matter; or, denoting a relation between elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as a whole.
  • The farm uses organic methods. / The report lacked an organic structure.
• Organismic (adj): Pertaining to an organism or to organicism.
  • She studied the organismic properties of ant colonies.

Synonyms

• Holism: The theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole.
• Wholism: (Variant spelling of holism).

Antonyms

• Reductionism: The practice of analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents.
• Mechanism: The doctrine that all natural phenomena, including life, can be explained by physical and chemical processes.

Noun

1. theory that the total organization of an organism rather than the functioning of individual organs is the determinant of life processes