Psychology, Atomism, Organicism

Complementing Social Atomism is Atomist Psychology, according ro which the behavior of an individual member of society is sufficiently determined by some internal principle, e. g. Self-Preservation, Self-Interest, Pleasure, Happiness, etc.  On the basis of such a principle, the effect of others on one's behavior is always mediated by the principle, e. g. whether or not someone else conduces to one's Self-Interest.  Social Organicism is likewise complemented by Organicist Psychology, according to which, at least some of the behavior of an individual member of society is determined by some principle that governs the behavior of the society as a whole, e. g. Harmony.  An example of the difference between the two concepts of Psychology is their contrasting analyses of Sympathy.  According to Atomism, one shares the feelings of another by virtue of a mediating mimicry of their Selfhood, while according to Organicism, in at least some cases, the sharing is the product of a direct transmission across a synapse, e. g. a mother's feeling of her baby's suffering as that of an extension of her own body.  Now, one of the advantages of the Organicist model is that, in it, phenomena that are classified as 'supernatural' under Atomism, e. g. 'psychic' phenomena, are easily explained as 'natural', albeit obscure.  On the other hand, one of the disadvantages, for some, of the Organicist model is that it tends to undermine Social Atomism, e. g. the foundations of a Capitalist society.