ABSTRACT
In the introductory chapter the editors discuss the wide incidence, diverse use, and ambivalent emotional charge of the terms holism and holistic. They note the difficulty of characterising and defining holism and review some of the different approaches that have been taken to studying it. In preparation for the chapters that follow, they flag that holism has been viewed as a solution not just to scientific problems internal to certain disciplines but also to past and contemporary cultural and political concerns and has given rise to various metaphysical and ethical debates. They conclude the introduction by outlining the rich and varied content of the contributions to the present volume, which are organised into four sections covering history and contexts, analytical psychology, philosophy, and practice and the arts.
