The Holism-Atomism Controversy: Gestalt Psychology Confronts the Revised Law of Inverse Variation

Abstract

Gestalt psychology is rightly associated with an holistic point of view which may be paraphrased: ‘The whole is equal to something besides the sum of its parts.’ But much of the attractiveness of that statement inheres in its exceeding ambiguity; the words whole, is, besides, sum, and parts each have several meanings (although the context which the sentence provides eliminates some of these). One of the plausible interpretations of the sentence is that adding members to a class increases the number of properties shared by all members of that class. However, such an interpretation contradicts the logician's Revised ‘Law’ of Inverse Variation between the extension of a predicate term and its intension. The paradox is resolved by distinguishing between three types of intension, then recognizing that the logician's ‘Law’ applies quite well with respect to objective intension but may often fail as regards subjective intension, the central concern of the Gestalt psychologist.