Reduction
Theoretical reduction is the reduction of one explanation or theory to another—that is, it is the absorption of one of our ideas about a particular thing into another idea.
Methodological reductionism, therefore, is the position that all scientific theories either can or should be reduced to a single super-theory through the process of theoretical reduction.
Ontological reductionism is the belief that reality is composed of a minimum number of kinds of entities or substances. This claim is usually metaphysical, and is most commonly a form of monism, in effect claiming that all objects, properties and events are reducible to a single substance.
(A dualist who is an ontological reductionist would presumably believe that everything is reducible to one of two substances.)
The concept of downward causation poses an alternative to reductionism. This explore ways in which one can talk about phenomena at a larger-scale level of organization exerting causal influence on a smaller-scale level, and find that some, but not all proposed types of downward causation are compatible with science. In particular, that constraint is a way in which downward causation can operate.
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