[shizzy0]

> The value in a piece of literature has little to do with the individual words it's made from

Literature would be hobbled if one couldn't use certain words without fear of litigation or rent seekers suing them.

> software is clearly vastly more than the sum of its algorithmic parts.

But it's all algorithmic parts, and the whole is no less an algorithm because its parts are.

Algorithm + Algorithm = Algorithm

If you want to rely on literature as your software analogy--that the composition of words/algorithms, the expression should be protected--then you're arguing not for patent protection but copyright protection, which we already have, and ridiculously is far better than what writers get. Because we don't have to share the human readable part the source code, just the compiled products. At least with patents one was supposed to disclose something of value.