A holistic turn is an epistemological process, in which knowledge is reoriented towards the the whole of a system after a period of prolonged focus on the parts of a system.
This can manifest in transitions such as:
- Material → Form
- Analysis → Synthesis
- Composition → Structure
- Data collection → Model building
- Mechanism → Intuition
Holism is usually placed in opposition to reductionism. However, holism is itself typically reductionistic. A holism that urges us to focus on intuition and appearances, over mechanism and causality, is merely a reduction to a particular level of abstraction.
It is important to not consider reductionism in strict spatial terms by — for example — thinking of it as always concerning a move from big to small. More generally, it is a framing that prioritises some set of concerns above others.
Systemism is the unification of reductionism and holism, which is often characteristic of effective investigations.