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reductionism

[ ri-duhk-shuh-niz-uhm ]

noun

  1. the theory that every complex phenomenon, especially in biology or psychology, can be explained by analyzing the simplest, most basic physical mechanisms that are in operation during the phenomenon.
  2. the practice of simplifying a complex idea, issue, condition, or the like, especially to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting it.


reductionism

/ ɪˈʌʃəˌɪə /

noun

  1. the analysis of complex things, data, etc, into less complex constituents
  2. derogatory.
    any theory or method that holds that a complex idea, system, etc, can be completely understood in terms of its simpler parts or components
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˌܳپDzˈپ, adjective
  • ˈܳپDzԾ, nounadjective
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Other yvlog Forms

  • ·ܳ·پDz· noun adjective
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of reductionism1

First recorded in 1940–45; reduction + -ism
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

I argue that we can account for the evolution of consciousness only if we reject reductionism about consciousness.

From

He added, “This is quite different from the many psychoanalysts who tend to assume the primacy of psychic reality and believe that psychology determines culture and society — another form of psychoanalytic reductionism.”

From

Dynamical separability is “kind of an assumption of reductionism,” Ormrod says.

From

To attribute this tectonic change purely to economics is crass reductionism akin to Marxism-Leninism, swept into the dustbin of history.

From

I also want to speak to Jesse’s point about the reductionism of “Paradise Square.”

From

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