154. Holism vs. reductionism : do ecosystem ecology and landscape ecology clarify the debate? Publication n°154. 1998

Titre : Holism vs. reductionism : do ecosystem ecology and landscape ecology clarify the debate?

Auteur : Donato Bergandi and Patrick Blandin

Date : 1998

Revue : Acta Biotheorica, 46.

Pagination : 185 à 206

Résumé : The holism-reductionism debate, one of the classic subject of study in the philosophy of science, is currently at the heart of epistemological concerns in ecology. Yet the division between holism and reductionism does not always stand out clearly in this field. In particular almost all work in ecosystem ecology and landscape ecology presents itself as holistic and emergentist. Nonetheless, the operational approaches used rely on conventional reductionist methodology. From an emergentist epistemological perspective, a set of general « transactional » principles inspired by the work of J.DEWEY and J.K. FEIBLEMAN are proposed in an effort to develop a coherent ontological and methodological semantics.

Mots clefs : Holism; Reductionism; Ecosystem ecology; Landscape ecology.