What is Holism

This chapter explores holism as it pertains to health in African thought. Specifically, it uses the philosophical notion of personhood to illustrate holism within the biomedical research context. In African philosophy, nature is an organic whole, and the creation and sustenance of ecological balance or interdependence between human and non-humans, the visible and the invisible are most desired. The individual is anchored in a mesh of relationships within the family, village, environment, all of whom are primordial sources of that person's physical, psychic, and spiritual existence and wellbeing. It is a fallacy, indeed absurd to think that humans can exist or act as though they are independent of the environment they live in while continually sensing it via sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. In a sense, humans are not just a part of nature; they are nature. It is a holistic perspective, as opposed to anthropocentrism. The continued neglect of this philosophical perspective in favor exclusively of anthropocentrism or individualism is the cause of much human crisis.