Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Moving Toward Synthesis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Beyond the Knowledge Crisis

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias ((PSNE))

  • 283 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explores the history of the demand for a synthesis of knowledge, gradual movement in that direction, and some of the challenges encountered along the way. Recounting important advancements in the natural sciences—namely, how the shift in focus from entities to organizing relations enabled them to finally reconcile life and matter—this chapter reveals an important precedent for success. Applying this basic principle, as well as lessons learned from failed attempts to bring the social sciences into the fold, suggests a way forward for integrating the seemingly irreconcilable social and natural sciences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allport, Gordon. 1944. In the Allport Papers, July 24. Harvard University Archives.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, Gordon, and Edwin Boring. 1946. “Psychology and Social Relations at Harvard University.” American Psychologist 1(4):119–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beals, Ralph. 1953. “Review of Toward a General Theory of Action,” edited by Talcott Parsons and Edward Shils. American Anthropologist 55(3):422–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, Kenneth E. 1985. “The Boulding’s Eye View,” unpublished paper in Kenneth Boulding Collection, University of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, Kenneth E. 1956. “General Systems Theory—The Skeleton of Science.” Management Science 2(3): 197–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brigandt, I., and A. Love. 2008. “Reductionism in Biology.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by E. N. Zalta. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/reduction-biology/.

  • Bryson, Dennis. 2015. “Mark A. May: Scientific Administrator, Human Engineer.” History of the Human Sciences, 1–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, Donald. 1974. “Downward Causation in Hierarchically Organised Biological Systems.” Pp. 179–186 in Studies in the Philosophy of Biology: Reduction and Related Problems, edited by Francisco Jose Ayala and Theodosius Dobzhansky. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comte, Auguste. 1855. The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, translated by Harriet Martineau. New York: Calvin Blanchard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, F. 1966. Of Molecules and Men. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Backer, P., D. De Waele, and L. Van Speybroeck. 2010. “Ins and Outs of Systems Biology vis-a-vis Molecular Biology: Continuation or Clear Cut?” Acta Biotheor 58:15–49 [PubMed].

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins, Richard. 1996. The Blind Watchmaker. New York and London: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobzhansky, Theodosius. 1973. “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution.” The American Biology Teacher 35(3):125–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias, Norbert. 1956. “Problems of Involvement and Detachment.” The British Journal of Sociology 7(3): 226–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias, Norbert. 1978 [1970]. What Is Sociology?, translated by Stephen Mennell and Grace Morrissey. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang, Ferric, and Arturo Casadevall. 2011. “Reductionistic and Holistic Science.” Infect Immun 79(4):1401–1404. Published online February 14. https://doi.org/10.1128/iai.01343-10.

  • Freeman, Joshua. 2005. “Towards a Definition of Holism.” British Journal of General Practice 55(511):154–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldschmidt, Walter. 1959. Man’s Way: A Preface to the Understanding of Human Society. New York: Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, Debora. 2003. The Science of Synthesis. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, Deborah. 2005. “Whither Systems?” Presidential Address to the International Society for the Systems Sciences. http://isss.org/bulletins/2006_GeneralSystemsBulletin_v35_no_member_list.pdf.

  • Harlow, Harry. 1953. “Mice, Monkeys, Men, and Motives.” Psychological Review 60(1): 23–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huxley, Julian. 1964. Essays of a Humanist. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, Barry. 1998. “The Contemporary Crisis and the Social Relations Department at Harvard: A Case Study in Hegemony and Disintegration.” American Sociologist Fall:26–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, Barry. 1986. Personal interview with George Homans. March 11, William James Hall, Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitano, Hiroaki. 2002. “Systems Biology: A Brief Overview.” Science 295:1662–1664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koestler, Arthur. 1978. Janus: A Summing Up. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez, I., and J. L. Arsuaga, J. L. 2004. Green Fire: The Life Force, from the Atom to the Mind. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, Mark. 1971. “A Retrospective View of the Institute of Human Relations at Yale.” Behavior Science Notes 6:141–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzocchi, Fulvio. 2012. “Complexity and the Reductionism–Holism Debate in Systems Biology.” Interdisciplinary Reviews: Systems Biology and Medicine 4(5):413–427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelstrass, Jürgen. 2014. “Complexity, Reductionism, and Holism in Science and Philosophy of Science.” Acta 22: 45–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morawski, J. G. 1986. “Organizing Knowledge and Behavior at Yale’s Institute of Human Relations Author.” Isis 77(2): 219–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Needham, Joseph. 1936. Order and Life. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Needham, Joseph. 1932. “Thoughts on the Problem of Biological Organization.” Scientia 52:84–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Needham, Joseph. 1929. The Sceptical Biologist. London: Chatto and Windus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quilley, Stephen, and Steven Loyal. 2005. “Eliasian Sociology as a ‘Central Theory’ for the Human Sciences.” Current Sociology 53(5):809–830.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, Steven. 1997. Lifelines: Biology, Freedom, Determinism. New York: Penguin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, Patrick. 1978. Towards a History of the Department of Social Relations. Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuster, Peter. 2007. “A Beginning of the End of the Holism Versus Reductionism Debate?” Complexity 13(1):10–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smelser, Neil. 2001. “Introduction.” Pp. vii–xix in Toward a General Theory of Action, edited by Talcott Parsons and Edward Shils. New Brunswick, NY: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smuts, Jan. 1926. Holism and Evolution. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford, Susan G., et al. 2010. “Now Is the Time for Action: Transitions and Tipping Points in Complex Environmental Systems.” Environment 52(1):40–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volk, Tyler. 1998. Gaia’s Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth. New York: Copernicus.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Bertalanffy, Ludwig. 1972. “The History and Status of General Systems Theory.” Academy of Management Journal 15(4):407–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Bertalanffy, Ludwig. 1967. Robots, Men, and Minds: Psychology in the Modern World. New York: George Braziller, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waring, Timothy M., and Peter J. Richerson. 2011. “Towards Unification of the Socio-Ecological Sciences: The Value of Coupled Models.” Geografiska Annaler Series B: Human Geography 93(4):301–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, John B. 2009 [1924]. Behaviorism. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whewell, William. 1840. The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences London, Vol. II. London: John W. Parker, West Strand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O. 1998. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. New York: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodger, Joseph. H. 1930. “The ‘Concept of Organism’ and the Relation Between Embryology and Genetics Part I.” The Quarterly Review of Biology 5(1):1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodger, Joseph. H. 1929. Biological Principles: A Critical Study. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Studies, Hiram College, Hiram, OH, USA

    Debbie Kasper

Authors
  1. Debbie Kasper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Debbie Kasper .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kasper, D. (2021). Moving Toward Synthesis. In: Beyond the Knowledge Crisis. Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48370-8_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48370-8_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-48369-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-48370-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation