Monday, February 25, 2013

whole is more than the sum of its parts?

Question:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130222003740AArXM4e

Why did Aristotle say that The whole is more than the sum of its parts?

Law of Conservation of Mass (out of the box view):
"matter cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system."
"Mass of things before reaction = Mass of things after reaction"

http://turnbull.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~histor…

The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Metaphysica 10f-1045a

"It has been said: The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is more correct to say that the whole is something else than the sum of its parts, because summing up is a meaningless procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is meaningful." (Kurt Koffka, 1935: New York: Harcourt-Brace. p 176)

Is it because of partial opinion, disregarding the existence of 'meta part (sum)' within the whole?
For example: Child of a group of 5 count as "I and 1,2,3,4"

Additional Details

@Andrew Smith,
A snow crystal does not have the same parts as humidity in the air, because the difference is heat.

@Robert J,
How does your comment address the question?


Answer:

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