- published: 16 Dec 2013
- views: 4405
Holism (from Greek ὅλος holos "all, whole, entire") is the idea that systems (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not as collections of parts. This often includes the view that systems function as wholes and that their functioning cannot be fully understood solely in terms of their component parts.
The term Holism was coined by J C Smuts in Holism and Evolution. It was Smuts' opinion that Holism is a concept that represents all of the wholes in the universe, and it is a factor because the wholes it denotes are the real factors in the universe. Further, it was his opinion that Holism also denoted a theory of the universe in the same vein as Materialism and Spiritualism; that the ultimate reality in the universe is neither matter nor spirit but wholes as defined in Holism and Evolution. While he offered these different definitions, Smuts clearly stated his opinion that its primary and proper use was to denote the totality of wholes which operate as real factors and give to reality its dynamic evolutionary creative character. Aside from the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the editor has been unable to identify authoritative secondary sources corroborating Smuts' definitions. When elaborations for the mental, personal and social categories are provided, and a case is made that Holism is a bonafide monistic ontology, we can revisit the vision of Holism that Smuts held.
Jan Christiaan Smuts OM, CH, ED, PC, KC, FRS (24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948. He was a supporter of racial segregation based on separate territory for blacks and whites, but by the time of the 1948 elections he supported a policy of initiating some measures of integration.
He led a Boer Commando in the Second Boer War for the Transvaal. During the First World War, he led the armies of South Africa against Germany, capturing German South-West Africa and commanding the British Army in East Africa. From 1917 to 1919, he was also one of the members of the British War Cabinet and he was instrumental in the founding of what became the Royal Air Force (RAF). He became a field marshal in the British Army in 1941, and served in the Imperial War Cabinet under Winston Churchill. He was the only man to sign both of the peace treaties ending the First and Second World Wars.
Carol: Just..south..of..Mi-ami
There's a snake named Sammy
Who forms a letter S each night on stage
(Sammy the Snake slithers onto centerstage)
Folks just adore Sammy
And what's more, Sammy
Makes a SSS SSS sound that's fast becoming all the rage
Sammy: hissss hisssss
This serpent still thrills me
And it just kills me
To hear him hiss S's clear and true
Sammy: hissss
So..turn on your charm, Sammy
Coil yourself around my arm, Sammy
Sammy the Snake, I'll stake a claim on you
Sammy: Hello, it'ssss me, Sssssammy
That'ssss the name Mammy
Gave me many yearsss ago when I was hatched
(enter 4 swaying S's with top hats like chorus girls)
S-girls: Yes, he's an old troopa
And he feels supa
'Cause the joys of making noises simply can't be matched
Carol: You make me glow, Sammy
Sammy: Oh?
Carol: 'Cause you're so clammy
Sammy: hissss
Carol: Yes, I'd miss the way you hiss if we should part
Sammy: Yessss
Carol: So..please say yes, Sammy
Sammy: Yessss
Carol: Hit me with another S, Sammy
Sammy: hissss
Carol: Sammy, come snake your way into my heart
Sammy: Oh sssure
Carol: Please say yes, Sammy
Sammy: Yesss!
Carol: Hit me with another S, Sammy
Sammy: Esss!
Carol and S-girls: Sammy, I swear my love is true!
Sammy: Oh?
Carol and S-girls: The only snake for me is you!
Sammy: Oh?
Carol and S-girls: Sammy, come snake your way into my heart!!!
Sammy: Oh yessss! Oh yesssss!!!