Holism and Evolution
E327636
"Holism and Evolution" is a 1926 philosophical work by Jan Smuts that introduced and developed the concept of holism, arguing that wholes are more than the sum of their parts in both nature and evolution.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Holism and Evolution canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3113196 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Holism and Evolution Context triple: [Jan Smuts, notableWork, Holism and Evolution]
-
A.
The Growth of Biological Thought
The Growth of Biological Thought is a landmark 1982 book by evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr that traces the historical development and conceptual foundations of modern biology, especially evolutionary theory and systematics.
-
B.
Bergsonianism
Bergsonianism is a philosophical movement based on Henri Bergson’s ideas about intuition, duration, and creative evolution, which significantly influenced thinkers such as Georges Sorel.
-
C.
Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution
Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution is a collection of scientific and philosophical essays exploring Gaia theory, symbiosis, and evolutionary biology, co-authored by Dorion Sagan and his mother, biologist Lynn Margulis.
-
D.
The Meaning of Evolution
The Meaning of Evolution is a landmark 1949 book by paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson that helped synthesize evolutionary theory with the fossil record and popularize modern evolutionary biology.
-
E.
Searching for Order in the Complexity of Evolving Worlds
"Searching for Order in the Complexity of Evolving Worlds" is the guiding motto of the Santa Fe Institute, reflecting its focus on understanding complex adaptive systems across disciplines.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Holism and Evolution Target entity description: "Holism and Evolution" is a 1926 philosophical work by Jan Smuts that introduced and developed the concept of holism, arguing that wholes are more than the sum of their parts in both nature and evolution.
-
A.
The Growth of Biological Thought
The Growth of Biological Thought is a landmark 1982 book by evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr that traces the historical development and conceptual foundations of modern biology, especially evolutionary theory and systematics.
-
B.
Bergsonianism
Bergsonianism is a philosophical movement based on Henri Bergson’s ideas about intuition, duration, and creative evolution, which significantly influenced thinkers such as Georges Sorel.
-
C.
Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution
Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution is a collection of scientific and philosophical essays exploring Gaia theory, symbiosis, and evolutionary biology, co-authored by Dorion Sagan and his mother, biologist Lynn Margulis.
-
D.
The Meaning of Evolution
The Meaning of Evolution is a landmark 1949 book by paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson that helped synthesize evolutionary theory with the fossil record and popularize modern evolutionary biology.
-
E.
Searching for Order in the Complexity of Evolving Worlds
"Searching for Order in the Complexity of Evolving Worlds" is the guiding motto of the Santa Fe Institute, reflecting its focus on understanding complex adaptive systems across disciplines.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (41)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
philosophical work ⓘ |
| argues |
evolution proceeds through the formation of higher-order wholes
ⓘ
mechanistic reductionism is inadequate to explain life ⓘ mind and personality are higher-order wholes ⓘ |
| author | Jan Smuts ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | South Africa ⓘ |
| describes | concept of holism ⓘ |
| firstEditionPublisher |
Macmillan Publishers
ⓘ
surface form:
Macmillan
|
| focusesOn |
relationship between parts and wholes in evolution
ⓘ
relationship between parts and wholes in nature ⓘ |
| genre |
metaphysics
ⓘ
philosophy of science ⓘ |
| hasInfluenced |
ecology
ⓘ
organizational theory ⓘ philosophy of biology ⓘ psychology ⓘ |
| hasKeyConcept |
creative evolution
ⓘ
emergent properties ⓘ hierarchical organization of wholes ⓘ |
| hasReception |
considered foundational in holistic thought
ⓘ
criticized for speculative metaphysics ⓘ |
| influenced |
ecological thinking
ⓘ
holistic philosophy ⓘ systems theory ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainSubject |
evolution
ⓘ
holism ⓘ |
| notableFor |
coining the term "holism" in its modern sense
ⓘ
systematic development of holistic worldview ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition |
holism
ⓘ
vitalism ⓘ |
| proposes | wholes are more than the sum of their parts ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1926 ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
Gestalt psychology
ⓘ
surface form:
Gestalt theory
organicism ⓘ systems thinking ⓘ |
| setsOutTo |
provide a unified theory of wholes in nature
ⓘ
reconcile science and metaphysics through holism ⓘ |
| structure | multiple parts and chapters ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 20th century philosophy ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Holism and Evolution Description of subject: "Holism and Evolution" is a 1926 philosophical work by Jan Smuts that introduced and developed the concept of holism, arguing that wholes are more than the sum of their parts in both nature and evolution.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.