nonreductionist
|non-re-duc-tion-ist|
🇺🇸
/ˌnɑn.rɪˈdʌk.ʃən.ɪst/
🇬🇧
/ˌnɒn.rɪˈdʌk.ʃən.ɪst/
not explain whole only by parts
Etymology
'nonreductionist' originates from English, specifically the prefix 'non-' and the word 'reductionist', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'reductionist' derives from 'reduction' + the agent suffix '-ist'.
'reduction' comes from Latin 'reductio' / 'reducere' ('to lead back'), passed into Old French and then Middle English as 'reduction'; the agentive suffix '-ist' (via Greek/Latin and Old French) produced 'reductionist' in modern English. The negative prefix 'non-' was added in English (20th century usage) to form 'nonreductionist'.
Initially, Latin 'reducere' meant 'to lead back'; in English 'reduction' came to mean 'explaining or analyzing by breaking into simpler parts'. Over time 'reductionist' described the doctrine of such analysis, and 'nonreductionist' came to mean 'not subscribing to that doctrine, emphasizing wholes or emergent features instead.'
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who rejects or opposes reductionism — i.e., who holds that complex systems or phenomena cannot be fully explained by reducing them to their component parts or simpler processes.
Many philosophers are nonreductionist about consciousness, arguing that subjective experience cannot be fully explained by neural processes.
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Adjective 1
describing an approach, theory, or stance that opposes reductionism or resists explaining wholes solely in terms of their parts.
The research adopted a nonreductionist methodology, focusing on emergent properties of the system rather than isolated components.
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Last updated: 2025/11/19 03:56