The Reductionist Fallacy and American Tort Law

Abstract

Scholars have long sought to understand both the occurrence and law of torts by reducing these subjects to their working parts. This reductionism has led to a confusing array of tort rules and exceptions as well as conflicting theoretical assertions. The tort system, moreover, has been an increasingly heavy weight on the American socio-economic system. Daoism, a wisdom central to much of Chinese culture, offers a useful alternative to this reductionist thinking. By explaining the relationship between the whole and the parts, it shows how torts arose in line with a change in thinking that led to the modern industrial state and why substantive progress in this field has thus been difficult to achieve. To resolve the problem of torts, Daoism calls for a reconsideration of reductionism and eventually a return to a holistic approach.

Keywords: Holism, Daoism/Taoism, Reductionism, Tort Law, Tort Theory, Legal History