Analysis vs. Synthesis.
A scientific model is thus a result both of synthesis and of analysis. Its synthetic nature is in the opportunity it gives for contemplating a class of events as a whole (which is what all metaphors do). Its analytic nature is in the specific description of the structure (the totality of relations) of the situation studied. The model therefore serves as a bridge between the analytical and the holistic approaches to phenomena. . . . The entire argument of holistic philosophy may be summarized thus. There are different levels of organization in the occurrence of events. You cannot explain the events of one level in terms of the events of another. For example, you cannot explain life in terms of mechanical concepts, nor society in terms of individual psychology. Analysis can only take you down the scale of organization. It cannot reveal the workings of things on a higher level. To some extent the holistic philosophers are right. (2, pp. 211-212)
This page was last updated on July 29, 1996, by Dr.
Umpleby.