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Functionalism vs Gestalt - What's the difference?

functionalism | gestalt |

As nouns the difference between functionalism and gestalt

is that functionalism is a doctrine, in several fields, that the function of something should be reflected in its design and the materials used in its construction while gestalt is a collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic elements that creates a whole, unified concept or pattern which is other than the sum of its parts, due to the relationships between the parts (of a character, personality, entity, or being.

functionalism

English

Noun

(-)
  • (architecture) A doctrine, in several fields, that the function of something should be reflected in its design and the materials used in its construction
  • (philosophy) The definition of mental states in terms of their causes and effects
  • (social science) The idea that social and cultural cohesion are a function of the interdependence and interactions of the institutions of a society
  • (psychology) A general school of thought that considers psychological phenomena in terms of their role in adaptation to the person's environment

    • gestalt

    English

    (wikipedia gestalt)

    Alternative forms

    * Gestalt

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic elements that creates a whole, unified concept or pattern which is other than the sum of its parts, due to the relationships between the parts (of a character, personality, entity, or being)
  • :* This biography is the first one to consider fully the writer's gestalt .
  • :* The clusters of behavioral gestalten'''... the probability factors... the subtypes of crimes... the constellations of criminal subtypes...'' — Jay Kirk, "Watching the Detectives", Harpers Magazine, Vol. 307, Iss. 1839; pg. 61, Aug, ' 2003
  • shape, form
  • :* Mary did not approve of the Eleanor gestalt'''. "I been to Woonsocket S.D., Eleanor McGovern's hometown," she said, "and nobody there? I mean nobody? dresses like that."'' — John L Hess and Karen Hess, "The Taste of America", Grossman, New York, ' 1977
  • :* ... depending on the kinds of speech children hear directed to them, they may first learn unanalyzed "gestalts'''" (e.g., social expressions like "What's that?" uttered as a single unit) instead of learning single words that are then freely recombined ...''— Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, "The Origins of Grammar", The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, ' 1996
  • :* So different were our appearances and approaches and general gestalts''' that we had something of an epic rivalry from '74 through '77.'' — David Foster Wallace, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again", Boston: Little, Brown and Co., Edition: 1st Back Bay ed., ' 1998

    • Derived terms

    * gestaltic * gestalting * gestalt psychology * Gestalt therapy