The question which the current thesis addresses is what holism becomes when it is considered to imply an emphasis upon patterns of relationship, rather than upon "wholes." This discussion is inspired by a consideration of the varieties of eco-holism, or ecological philosophy, which have most fully developed such a relational understanding of holism, and especially through a consideration of the works of Gregory Bateson and his interpreters.This central theme is intertwined with two major subthemes as well. The first is a consideration of postmodernity, which contrasts two principle understandings of the postmodern. The first variety is represented in what follows by the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and his followers, and through a consideration of Wittgenstein's influence upon the interpretive anthropology of Clifford Geertz. The latter theme is developed in most detail through a discussion of Bateson's works, and their own links to Wittgenstein's position.The second subtheme develops an ecological understanding of holism as a form of cultural critique first, through a consideration of the critiques of contemporary society advanced by eco-holists, and second, through a discussion of the methodology which Bateson employed in his own critiques of the practices of modern industrial society. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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