# Beyond Reductionism **URL:** **By** Roy A. Childs, Jr. **Published:** May 1, 1974 --- “(and that) knowledge must limit itself to copying these features," that this simply ignores new discoveries in biology, which "have shown that the relationship between an organism and its environment...” Arthur Koestler and J. R. Smythies, Editors Some of the harshest attacks on capitalism in recent years have come from a motley crew of egalitarians, behaviorists and reductionists. But of these three, reductionism is clearly the most basic and fundamental; for egalitarians usually hold that differences in intelligence, wealth and ability can be "reduced to" or explained in terms of other factors, such as genetics or environment. And behaviorists are of course reductionistic in the extreme, attempting to explain even the most complicated of human characteristics and actions in terms of the most basic biologic processes. In doing so, they often "explain away" all higher characteristics and structures in man's life and consciousness. Reductionism comes in many shapes and sizes, but all attempts to reduce more complicated processes to simple ones, to explain human behavior in terms of the laws of biology appropriate to lower life forms or, ultimately, to the laws of physics and chemistry. If this approach to human life were valid, then naturally there could be no such thing as anyone "deserving" anything, let alone a superior economic status—for such superior achievements and abilities are to be explained in terms of processes with which the agent so graced had nothing to do! But reductionism is not a theory so limited or narrow to have merely political implications; it is in fact part and parcel of what only can be described as today's dominant world view, as a remnant of nineteenth century mechanism which has implications for everything from biology to psychology to education to politics and economics. Today, however, there are increasing signs of a shattering of the reductionistic monopoly in these fields. In 1968, fifteen eminent scientists representing an increasingly vocal anti-reductionistic undercurrent of thought in these fields, met to refute the mechanistic-reductionistic world view—and to move toward a new scientific synthesis which would "provide a place for human values in human behavior." That symposium is reprinted here in full, with discussions and papers covering everything from genetics to psychology. _Beyond Reductionism_, then, is a sort of "manifesto," attempting a refutation of what Arthur Koestler calls "the four pillars of unwisdom," the view that "biological evolution is the result of nothing but random mutations preserved by natural selection; that mental evolution is the result of nothing but random tries preserved by reinforcements; that all organisms, including man, are nothing but passive automata controlled by the environment, whose sole purpose in life is the reduction of tensions by adaptive responses; and that the only scientific method worth that name is quantitative measurement, with the consequence that complex phenomenon must be reduced to simple elements accessible to such treatment without undue worry whether the specific characteristics of a complex phenomenon—for instance, man—may be lost in the process." The contributors to this symposium include some of the most distinguished scientists in the world—and, happily, the humanities and social scientists are counted as scientists here, not second-rate imitators. We have papers and remarks by Arthur Koestler, Paul A. Weiss, Holger Hyden, Jean Piaget, Barkel Inhelder, J. R. Smythies, C. H. Waddington, Viktor E. Frankl and F. A. von Hayek. The topics range from Hayek's "_The Primacy of the Abstract_" to Frankl's "_Reductionism and Nihilism_," from Smythies' "_Aspects of Consciousness_" to Piaget's "_The Gaps in Empiricism_," from Weiss "_The Living System_" to Waddington's "_The Theory of Evolution Today_." And these just touch on parts of what is contained in this volume; remarks, questions and answers, comments by participants, are all reproduced here. Some are complicated, others are easily understandable, but all are significant examples of the emerging counter-reductionist-behaviorist-mechanistic approach to the life sciences. Jerome Bruner, for example, in his remarks on "Voluntary Action and its Hierarchical Structure," attempts to show that "many biological systems operate from the outset as hierarchically organized wholes by their very nature," and that while "certain principles of action do not vary from one type of system to another," other principles of action may vary widely. Jean Piaget's comments on classical empiricism are equally enlightening; Piaget shows that while various forms of empiricism hold that "the function of cognitive mechanisms is to submit to reality, copying its features as closely as possible... (and that) knowledge must limit itself to copying these features," that this simply ignores new discoveries in biology, which "have shown that the relationship between an organism and its environment... is one of constant interaction. The view that the organism submits passively to the influence of its environment has become untenable." This, together with the rest of Piaget's remarks, certainly suggests that traditional approaches to epistemology might need to be reviewed. But that is not all that is worth looking at in this volume; all of the essays have brilliant insights and views worth examining carefully. They come from the most brilliant minds now active in a wide diversity of fields, from the economist-social philosopher F. A. von Hayek to Arthur Koestler. All in all, _Beyond Reductionism_ is a brilliantly effective collection, a scathing counterattack on a world view which exists today only by default. Certainly not all of the implications of what was said at this symposium have been identified, but at the very least, it provides a wealth of ammunition to use against the Marxists, the Skinnerians and the modern egalitarians of the left—from Christopher Jencks to John Rawls. Reductionism in its many forms is the core of these positions and has given birth to many other intellectual perversions as well. _Beyond Reductionism_ is its obituary. It is a brilliant intellectual exposé of a contemporary funeral march which sees itself as the march of science. Highly recommended. _Reviewed by R. A. Childs, Jr. / Philosophy-Psychology (438 pages, indexed) / BFL Price $3.95_