Reading Comprehension

PT102 · S1 · P4 · Q23 Organicist vs. Analytic

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Scientists typically advocate the analytic method of studying complex systems: systems are divided into component parts that are investigated separately.

Topic

The debate between the analytic method and organicism in studying complex systems.

Framework

Challenge Position

Main Point

The author challenges the organicists' rejection of the analytic method, arguing that organicists misunderstood how the analytic method actually works and failed to provide valid reasons for abandoning it. ( — final sentence)

P1: Introduction to Analytic Method and Organicist Critique

Scientists usually break down complex systems to study their parts individually (analytic method), but 19th-century critics (organicists) argued this loses essential complexity. They introduced organicism, which sees parts as interdependent and defined by the whole.

P2: Theory of Internal Relations

Organicism relies on the theory of internal relations: entities are fundamentally defined by their relationships within a whole, and these relationships alter the very nature of the entities involved.

P3: Issues with Internal Relations

Problem: Not every property an entity has counts as a defining characteristic; entities can have relationships that don't actually change their core identity.

23.

According to the passage, organicists’ chief objection to the analytic method was that the method

Correct
oversimplified systems by isolating their
Why this is right
This is a great match for what we were looking for. when a system's parts are isolated its complexity tends to be lost To make this slightly less matchy-matchy they employed a couple synonyms: 1. instead of isolating the parts of a system, this says isolating components 2. instead of saying "complexity is lost", this says that "it's oversimplified".
Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
72% picked this
assumed that a system can
Unrelated to Goal: can be divided
The complaint was this: when a system's parts are isolated its complexity tends to be lost It had nothing do with whether the parts can be isolated.
7% picked this
ignored the laws applicable to
Too Strong: ignoring laws
The complaint was this: when a system's parts are isolated its complexity tends to be lost In the final paragraph, the author is saying that "in rejecting the analytic method, organicists overlooked the fact that analytic scientists first determined the laws applicable to the whole system". So we know that organicists assumed that analytic scientists weren't starting by assessing the laws applicable to system as a whole. But it's a stronger idea to say organicists assumed that analytic scientists ignored laws applicable to the system as a whole forever. Furthermore, even if we accepted this stronger version of what was discussed in the final paragraph, what was discussed in the final paragraph was a background assumption the organicists were making. It wasn't their public, vocal complaint about the analytic method. That explicit objection is found in the 2nd sentence of the passage, and it's definitely not saying that analytic scientists ignored anything.
12% picked this
claimed that the parts of
Bad Match: more important
The complaint was this: when a system's parts are isolated its complexity tends to be lost It doesn't ever claim that analytic scientists believed that parts are more important than the whole system. It just claims that by isolating the parts the analytic scientists were losing some of the complexity of the whole.
7% picked this
denied the claim that entities
Unrelated to Goal: entity relationships
The complaint was this: when a system's parts are isolated its complexity tends to be lost It had nothing do with whether analytic scientists believed anything about entities entering into relationships.
2% picked this

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