Can mechanistic explanatory concepts be applied to part-whole perception?

Latimer & Stevens (1997) propose making order out of the prevailing disorder surrounding the terms "whole" and "part" by applying a conceptual framework developed by Rescher & Oppenheim 1955). The basic argument of the present commentary is that this framework is not suitable to explain the perception of part-whole because it is nothing other than a reflection and formalization of the physical system, which differs fundamentally from the system of human behavior. Whereas physical properties are founded on basic and natural units of measurement, psychological properties are not based on such measurement units.