In today’s world, extreme separatism and a reductionist (elementalist) approach to phenomena have become one of the fundamental obstacles to a holistic understanding of truth. Elementalism, which emphasizes breaking down and analyzing parts isolated from the whole, has become a dominant approach in many fields of knowledge—from the natural sciences to theology and mysticism. While this perspective has proven effective in developing technology and empirical knowledge, it has reached a dead end when faced with the spiritual realm and the complexities of human lifeworlds. In spiritual worldviews, it has led to the reduction of the sacred to disjointed symbolic and ritualistic elements, and in the material realm, it has rendered humans incapable of grasping the layered interconnectedness of existence.

We must examine how elementalism, especially in the modern age, has caused a rift between meaning and matter and dragged human perspectives into reductionism and fragmentation.

The Concept of Elementalism and Its Epistemological Roots

"Elementalism," or reductionism, is a method of analyzing phenomena that focuses on isolating parts and emphasizing elements detached from the whole. This approach flourished in the natural sciences—particularly in 18th- and 19th-century physics and biology—and was based on the assumption that understanding complex phenomena requires reducing them to their constituent parts.

The epistemological roots of elementalism can be traced back to Descartes and his analytical method, where knowledge of the world was deemed possible through its dissection into comprehensible components. Descartes, with his emphasis on "methodical doubt" and the separation of mind and body (Cartesian dualism), laid the groundwork for a perspective in which the complexities of the world and human beings were to be analyzed in terms of fundamental elements. Newton, through his formulation of mechanical laws, extended this approach into science and reinforced a mechanistic view of existence.

Initially, elementalism was a response to complexity and ignorance, but over time, it evolved into a scientific ideology. In this view, phenomena such as the psyche, society, meaning, and even God were either denied or reduced to simpler elements. In other words, elementalism transitioned from a tool of understanding to a worldview—one in which only measurable components were considered real.

In such a framework, holistic and systemic perspectives, which emphasize the relationship between parts and the whole, were marginalized. While elementalism proved effective in technical domains, it showed limitations and stagnation in areas such as ethics, meaning, beauty, religion, and human identity.

Elementalism in Natural and Social Sciences: Opportunity or Threat?

Elementalism was initially a powerful tool for understanding natural phenomena. In empirical sciences—especially physics, chemistry, and biology—breaking down phenomena into simpler parts led to the discovery of atomic structures, DNA, cells, and biological functions. This perspective laid the foundation for many human advancements in engineering, medicine, and technology. Therefore, elementalism cannot be entirely dismissed; rather, its proper scope and limitations must be understood.

However, when this approach extended into the humanities and social sciences, it generated more complex problems. Reducing humans to purely economic beings in classical economic theories or simplifying the psyche to stimulus and response in behaviorist psychology are examples of applying elementalism to inherently value-laden and layered human realms.

In psychology, behaviorism, by ignoring mind, intention, meaning, and inner emotions, reduced humans to reactive machines. In sociology, structural-functional approaches sometimes viewed society as a mechanical system, disregarding individuals' lived experiences. In political science, elementalism sometimes led to the neglect of beliefs, values, and cultures in analyzing power and politics.

Here, elementalism not only resulted in oversimplification but also closed the path to deep and intersubjective understanding of human phenomena. In social sciences, where meaning, intention, identity, and interaction are foundational, interpretive and holistic approaches are far more effective.

Thus, while elementalism is a valuable tool for discovering the mechanisms of phenomena in natural sciences, it becomes a threat in the human realm when applied absolutistically. The problem lies not in the use of this method, but in its inappropriate extension to domains that inherently transcend observable elements and parts.

The Impact of Elementalism on Religion and Spirituality in the Modern Era

With the rise of elementalism in modern times, the Western human view of the world, God, and even the self underwent profound changes. Religion, which was once seen as a holistic, living, and integrative reality, gradually became fragmented into analyzable components. Instrumental reason and empirical approaches reduced faith to a personal and subjective matter, and sacred experiences were interpreted as illusions or psychological phenomena.

In this context, religious concepts such as revelation, salvation, sanctity, and worship were subjected to reductive analysis. They were either expected to be verifiable by empirical science or excluded from the domain of valid knowledge. Modern thought—especially within the positivist tradition—treated religion as either a behavioral moral system or a set of meaningless propositions unless reduced to empirical data.

Elementalism also harmed spiritual experience. In mysticism, the experience of unity with existence, which is inherently holistic and intuitive, was reduced in modern views to mere psychological or neurological processes. Some neuroscience theories attempted to explain mystical experiences solely as outcomes of specific brain functions. While not denying the experience itself, this perspective stripped it of its sacred meaning and its connection to transcendent truth.

As a result, elementalism in the realm of religion and spirituality led to deeper secularization and an inability to address modern humans' existential needs. The collapse of semantic cohesion in life, the loss of a sense of presence in existence, and identity and existential crises are among the consequences of this reductionism.

Conversely, many thinkers have emphasized an understanding in which religion is not a collection of disassemblable parts, but a "comprehensive lived experience" that must be understood within the wholeness of being and the human condition.

The Collapse of the Meaning-Matter Link in Modern Thought

One of the most profound consequences of elementalism in modern thought is the gradual rupture between meaning and matter. This dualism—rooted in Cartesian rationalism and positivist scientism—regards matter as external and objective reality, and meaning as subjective, relative, and unreliable. The result is a world full of data and information, but devoid of meaning.

In pre-modern thought, matter and meaning were intrinsically connected. In Islamic philosophy, the material world was seen as a manifestation of levels of existence and a sign of the transcendent truth. In mysticism, every particle of existence bore a message from the beloved. But in the modern paradigm, this bond was severed: matter became a soulless object, and meaning was exiled to the human mind.

This separation manifests at various levels:

  • In architecture, buildings that once reflected beauty, sanctity, and cosmic order are now products of engineering and utilitarian calculations.
  • In art, meaning has given way to personal expression or mere form.
  • In daily life, objects and relationships are no longer signs of deeper realities, but tools for consumption.

This collapse of the meaning-matter link has also affected the human lifeworld. The world is no longer a place of “dwelling,” but a field of operation and exploitation. The body is no longer the temple of the soul, but a machine for productivity. Nature is no longer a sister or mother, but a resource to be extracted. This perspective has not only endangered ecosystems but has also shaken the psychological and spiritual foundations of humanity.

With this disjunction, modern humans face an existential void: they possess data but lack meaning; tools, but no direction; comfort, but no satisfaction. This rupture underlies crises such as existential loneliness, nihilism, and widespread depression.

The solution to this crisis lies in rethinking the human-world relationship and restoring the link between meaning and matter. This calls for a philosophical, mystical, and artistic outlook that once again sees the world as a meaningful structure—where matter is not just mass and energy, but a language and mirror of meaning.

Examples of Elementalism’s Dead Ends in Cultural, Psychological, and Ontological Fields

When elementalism is treated as the sole valid method of understanding and analyzing phenomena, it reaches a dead end in areas connected with lived experience, meaning, culture, and existence. Here are some concrete examples:

A) Culture: Reducing Culture to Disjointed Components
In modern cultural analysis—especially in structuralist anthropology and sociology—culture is often reduced to patterns of behavior, symbols, or institutions. In such views, the “spirit of culture” or its meaningful lifeworld is overlooked. For example, religious rituals like Ashura or Nowruz, when seen merely as social customs or ritual structures, lose their inner meaning and depth. By isolating cultural elements from their historical and symbolic contexts, elementalism drains culture of its essence.

B) Psychology: Inability to Understand the Integration of the Human Psyche
Elementalist approaches in psychology, like behaviorism or some biological theories, reduce the psyche to responses, hormones, or neural activity. However, human experiences—like love, fear, faith, or consciousness—are complex, integrated, and intersubjective phenomena that cannot be grasped merely through brain scans or behavioral analysis. This reduction not only leads to superficial therapies but also fails to comprehend the existential suffering of humans.

C) Ontology: Crisis of Life’s Meaning in the Modern Age
When elementalism extends into ontology, it turns the world into an object and the human into a consumer. The world no longer holds mystery or meaning—it is a dead object to be conquered. This outlook ultimately leads to a crisis of meaning, a sense of nihilism, and existential alienation. In existentialist philosophy, this crisis is recognized as the direct result of humanity’s separation from “the whole of meaning.”

Returning to Holistic Perspectives: Eastern Wisdom, Islamic Mysticism, and Interdisciplinary Knowledge

After experiencing the crises caused by elementalism in modern thought, contemporary intellectual fields—especially in philosophy, religion, art, and the humanities—are witnessing a return to holistic thinking. This return is not a nostalgic retreat, but a conscious effort to restore the broken links between matter and meaning, part and whole, science and wisdom.

A) Eastern Wisdom: Unity in Diversity
In Eastern traditions, the world is seen as a living and interconnected whole. Existence is a unified reality with diverse manifestations. In this view, understanding the parts without regard to their relationship with the whole is impossible. Teachings like Tao in China or Brahman and Atman in India emphasize the fundamental unity between existence and humanity—a unity alien to modern elementalism.

B) Islamic Mysticism: A Hierarchical Ontology
In Islamic mysticism, existence is viewed through levels of being and the manifestation of Divine Names. Humans are not detached entities but mirrors of the whole cosmos and manifestations of Divine Names. Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Being) signifies perceiving God’s presence in all aspects of existence and calls for a comprehensive and intuitive perception of the world. In this worldview, meaning and matter are not separate but are different dimensions of a single reality.

C) Interdisciplinary Knowledge: A New Scientific Approach
In recent years, interdisciplinary approaches in the humanities and social sciences have become more widespread. These approaches aim to escape one-dimensional perspectives and analyze phenomena from multiple angles. For example, in cultural studies, analyzing a phenomenon may require the integration of sociology, psychology, history, and theology. This perspective is a modern return to traditional holistic thinking.

Even in theoretical physics, concepts like the universe as a unified field or string theory reflect a renewed holistic perspective—a universe in which particles and forces are not isolated elements but manifestations of a unified structure.

Conclusion: Moving Beyond Elementalism Toward an Integrated Understanding of Existence

The dead end of elementalism is not merely a philosophical hypothesis but a psychological and cultural reality that manifests in the individual and collective life of modern humans. From the analysis of individual behavior to urban architecture, from the understanding of religion to our relationship with nature, signs of this crisis are evident. The way out is not to reject science, but to rebuild the relationships between parts and wholes and to revive holistic perspectives.

A return to holistic thinking does not mean the rejection of rationality, but a move beyond instrumental reason toward reflective, intuitive, and wisdom-based rationality. This return enables science, spirituality, philosophy, and art to work not in opposition but in dialogue, to reconstruct a comprehensive understanding of existence.

As demonstrated, despite its utility in technical and analytical realms, elementalism fails when confronting spiritual, ontological, and human domains. While a part-based approach has facilitated understanding certain aspects of the world, it has also severed deep connections between matter and meaning, mind and world, humanity and divinity.

This rupture has had profound consequences not just on the level of knowledge but also on human existence—from identity and life-meaning crises to alienation from nature, culture, and the self. In this context, transcending elementalism is not about denying science but about reclaiming a unifying, holistic view of the world.

Returning to traditions of wisdom and mysticism, focusing on hierarchical ontologies, and embracing interdisciplinary approaches in modern thought offer pathways toward revitalizing holistic vision. This journey rescues us from reducing humans to machines, religion to rituals, and the world to raw matter, and opens the possibility of living again in a world full of meaning.

Ultimately, for future humans to live in a complex, changing, and often harsh world, they must adopt a perspective that sees the whole without forgetting the part—a view where science and meaning, analysis and intuition, experience and wisdom, coexist in harmony.

(Descartes, 1998; Newton, 1999; Capra, 1996; Taylor, 2007; Morin, 2008)