Any view according to which properties of individual elements in a complex are taken to be determined by relations they bear to other elements.
Holism is less a doctrine than a class of doctrines.
It must be admitted, however, that holism tends to induce a frame of mind that finds holistic phenomena widespread. In this century holism has been particularly associated with the biological and social sciences, and with conceptions of mind and language. In each case, the question is whether 'emergent' properties of a whole can affect the behaviour of its individual constituents in ways that cannot be accounted for solely by reference to properties those constituents possess independently of their membership in the whole. It is easy to make holism appear trivial. Any collection of individuals exhibits properties its constituents lack.