CHAPTER VII 



MECHANISM AND HOLISM 



Summary. — The discussion in the last two chapters has disclosed 

 a grading-up of such structures as can in any way be called holis- 

 tic; beginning with the physico-chemical structures, into which 

 physical and chemical relations enter; passing on to bio-chemical 

 structures or organisms, into which those relations plus something 

 new, usually called life, enter; and culminating in psycho-physical 

 structures, in which all three relations enter, together with the 

 new elements of mind and personality. In this grading-up the 

 earlier structures are not destroyed but become the basis of later, 

 more evolved synthetic holistic structures; the character of whole- 

 ness increases with the series and the elements of newness, varia- 

 tion and creativeness become more marked. 



Mechanism is a type of structure where the working parts main- 

 tain their identity and produce their effects individually, so that 

 the activity of the structure is, at least theoretically, the mathe- 

 matical result of the individual activities of the parts. With the 

 two concepts of Mechanism and Holism before us we can see how 

 the natural wholes of the universe fall under both concepts. There 

 is a measure of Mechanism everywhere, and there is a measure of 

 Holism everywhere; but the Holism gains on the Mechanism in 

 the course of Evolution, it becomes more and more as Mechanism 

 becomes less and less with the advance. Holism is the more fun- 

 damental activity, and we may therefore say that Mechanism is 

 an earlier, cruder form of Holism; the more Holism there is in 

 structure, the less there is of the mechanistic character, until 

 finally in Mind and Personality the mechanistic concept ceases to 

 be of any practical use. 



What is the relation between the earlier (mechanistic) and the 

 later (holistic) elements in composite structures, such as bio- 

 chemical and psycho-physical wholes? How can the material and 

 the immaterial influence or act on each other? This is still one of 

 the great unsolved problems of philosophy, and science finds it no 

 less embarrassing. The tendency for science has as a rule been to 

 look upon the earlier physico-chemical structures as dominant, and 

 upon the later holistic elements of life and mind as essentially 

 unreal or as having only an apparent reality. Science looks upon 



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