Towards a philosophical underpinning of the holistic concept of integrity of organisms within organic agriculture

The concept of naturalness can be used to characterize organic agriculture and to distinguish it from conventional agriculture, provided naturalness not only refers to the non-use of synthesized chemicals, but also to the ecological and systemic principles, and to a respect for the integrity of living organisms. Examples of the implicit use of the integrity concept in agriculture will be described to show its practical aspects and implications. The (non-atomistic) holistic concept of integrity of organisms has been the subject of severe scientific criticism — specially from in essence ontological reductionists. In their view, an organism is essentially no more than a complex set of atoms and molecules and its integrity a non-concept. In order to reach scientific acceptance of the integrity concept and to support its use in organic agricultural practice, it needs further underpinning. In this article, based on a critical analysis of (a) ontological and methodological aspects of reductionism, and (b) expert knowledge and the process of pattern recognition and application, the validity of the holistic concept of integrity will be explored.