holistic

English translation: more than the mere sum of elements

15:22 Jan 2, 2003

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]

English term or phrase: holistic

What is meant by:

A holistic national policy

A holistic approach

R. Chopra

Selected answer:more than the mere sum of elements

Explanation:
1 : of or relating to holism
2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts *holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body* *holistic ecology views man and the environment as a single system

holism:
1 : a theory that the universe and especially living nature is correctly seen in terms of interacting wholes (as of living organisms) that are more than the mere sum of elementary particles
2 : a holistic study or method of treatment

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Note added at 2003-01-02 15:41:14 (GMT)
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above from Merriam-Webster

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Note added at 2003-01-02 17:38:01 (GMT)
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synonyms include:
comprehensive, all-embracing;
seen as a whole (or in its entirety)
unitary
© 2001 Langenscheidt

holistic national policy = unitary nat. pol.
holistic approach = unitary approach

Selected response from:

Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 06:57

Grading comment

Thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

5 +3

integrated

Fuad Yahya

5 +3

a systems approach, characterized by global thinking

Refugio

4 +2

more than the mere sum of elements

Cilian O'Tuama

5 +1

Of or pertaining to holism; characterized by the tendency to perceive or produce wholes.

Christopher Crockett

Answers

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

integrated

Explanation:
The American Heritage Dictionary gives the following definition:

1. Of or relating to holism.

2. Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.

3. Concerned with wholes rather than analysis or separation into parts

Holism is defined as:

"The theory that living matter or reality is made up of organic or unified wholes that are greater than the simple sum of their parts."

Fuad

American Heritage Dictionary

Fuad Yahya
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in pair: 893

18 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

more than the mere sum of elements

Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 06:57
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 455

Grading comment

Thanks

43 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Of or pertaining to holism; characterized by the tendency to perceive or produce wholes.

Explanation:
holism : A term coined by Gen. J. C. Smuts (1870-1950) to designate the tendency in nature to produce wholes (i.e. bodies or organisms) from the ordered grouping of unit structures. So holist.

1926 J. C. Smuts Holism & Evol; 99 The whole-making, holistic tendency, or Holism, operating in and through particular wholes, is seen at all stages of existence.

1945 Word i. 109 Haldane suggested for this movement [in biology] the name `holism'; others preferred to call it `organicism'. To my mind, this new holism or organicism bears a close relationship to linguistic structuralism.

1959 Times 11 Dec. 15/1 Holism has at last penetrated departments of nutrition, and a new school of nutrition has arisen which realizes that the integration of nutrition, health and disease is a problem that must be attacked on a wide front.

1964 Listener 21 May 825/1, I mentioned the unresolved conflict between the atomistic psychology of the Behaviourists and the somewhat schematic holism of the Gestalt school.

Thus the O.E.D.

As Cilian suggests, the application of a "holistic" approach to any problem implies, by its very nature, that any "whole" is more than just the sum of its constituent parts.

I've never come across the term "A holistic national policy," though I'd love to see one such implimented in the U.S., preferably soon.

"A holistic approach" is common, most often heard (in my neighborhood) in the context of "health care."

Christopher Crockett
Local time: 00:57
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 128

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

a systems approach, characterized by global thinking

Explanation:
as opposed to linear thinking

Refugio
Local time: 21:57
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 485

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English translation: more than the mere sum of elements

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