What Is Holistic
Development?
Learning Objectives
 To identify, define, and describe holistic
development and the whole person
 To identify, describe, and distinguish
between Descartes’ and Gestalt’s holistic
development models
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Key Understanding
 Comprehend the meaning of holistic
development and the philosophical
theories of dualism and holism
Key Questions
 What is holistic development?
 How do you differentiate between dualism
and holism?
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What is holistic development?
It pertains to whole person, emphasizing
the complete aspects of a person or his
totality.
•Dualism and holism are philosophical
theories in order to understand what it
means to perceive a person as a whole
organism.
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Mind and Body Dualism of
Descartes •Rene Descartes, one of the
modern philosophers of our
time, influenced much of
mankind’s thinking with his
theory of duality or
understanding the nature of
things in a simple, dual mode.
•In dualism,people perceive
things as dual in character.
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The Yin-Yang Symbol
 An example of dualism is
the distinct male-female
gender categorization or
the yin and yang of
eastern thought.
 Western culture overemphasizes its
either-or, black-white characteristics.
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The Yin-Yang Symbol
There is dynamism
between two forces in
nature, and that each
force is present in each
other and will never exist
in its purest form.
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More examples of Dualism
•
•
•
•
Good-bad
Racial purity
Life-death
Other points of view where
things are taken in their
absolutes or extremes.
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Holism and Gestalt
In 1926, General Jan C.
Smuts, a South African
statesman, military
leader, and philosopher,
wrote about holism in his
book Holism and
Evolution.
Gen. Jan C. Smuts
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Holism and Gestalt
Holism - the tendency in nature to form
wholes which are greater than the sum of
the parts through creative evolution.
Gestalt – something that is made of many
parts and yet is somehow more than or
different from the combination of its parts;
broadly, the general quality or character of
something.
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Examples:
Music
Car
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In understanding
humans, it is
important to see
the person in his
entirety and not
just his parts.
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