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A holon is something that is simultaneously a whole in and of itself, as well as a part of a larger whole. In this way, a holon can be considered a subsystem within a larger hierarchical system. [1]
Dec 8, 2022 · Join Corey deVos for this fun, fascinating, and far-reaching exploration of one of the essential cornerstones of integral theory — holons, or the apparently endless series of “part/wholes” that fundamentally compose reality as we know it.
- Introduction
- Arthur Koestler – The Father of Holon Theory
- Koestler's Holon
- The Evolutionary Holon
- Holons and Holarchies
- Ken Wilber's Holonic Tenets
- Wilber's Aqal Framework and The Holon
- The Holon - Integral Theory's Unit of Analysis
- Holism, Reductionism and Pluralism
- Similarities and Differences
The idea of hierarchy and of their constituent part-wholes, or holons, has, as Arthur Koestler points out in the opening quote, a long and distinguished history. There are many philosophers who have proposed abstract systems for explaining natural and social phenomena. In pre-Socratic Greece Leuciddus and Deocritus developed the abstract concept of...
Some 35 years ago, in 1967, Arthur Koestler proposed the term "holon" in his book "The Ghost in the Machine". Arthur Koestler was born in 1905 and died in 1983. During the 1930's and 1040's Koestler was a journalist who covered the Spanish civil war and World War II from the perspective of the ordinary people who were swept up in the great social t...
The idea of the holon occupies a central position in Koestler's thinking about the human condition. He developed the construct to deal with three central problems that he saw facing the social sciences of the post-war generation. First he saw the need for some model that could unite and integrate the reductionist and mechanistic worldview of the "s...
In introducing the idea of the holon Koestler quotes the story told to him by Herbert Simon, a Nobel prize winner, and called the 'parable of the two watchmakers'. The parable goes like this: Koestler relates this story to show that the hierarchical organisation of systems is an inbuilt feature of life – biological life but also any complex evolvin...
Koestler noted that in every order of existence, from physical to chemical to biological and social systems, entirely self supporting, non-interacting entities did not exist. And more importantly, that entities can be seen to lie in holarchical relationship with each other. He called systems of such entities Open Hierarchical Systems (OHS) and thes...
Wilber adopted Koestler's holon construct during, what Wilber has called, the phase-2 period in the development of his philosophy. This phase, which occurred around the late seventies and early eighties, is characterised by a focus on the spectral transcend-and–include nature of all developmental structures. It is no surprise that Wilber would be d...
As with Koestler, Wilber uses the holon theory to, "undercut the traditional argument between atomism .. and wholism". For Wilber to incorporate holonic theory into the theoretical structure of the AQAL framework was easy at one level because both theories were founded on the idea of hierarchical inclusion. The difference between them was that Wilb...
The development of the human, in both its personal and social forms, is the most complex phenomena that we yet know about in the Kosmos. To understand this process in any sort of detailed and valid fashion is, to put it mildly, a big task. It is my opinion that Ken Wilber's Integral theory is the only philosophical/epistemological/theoretical frame...
The holon is the holarchic (i.e. hierarchic plus heterarchic) reference point through which the various principles of the AQAL model can be applied. This is the real point behind Wilber's first tenet of holons, "Reality as a whole is not composed of things, or processes, but of holons". He is really pointing out here that holons permit an analytica...
I have pointed out that Koestler has proposed a quite detailed set of holonic principles and shown that the holon construct has a very wide application. Wilber, in turn, has placed the holon construct firmly at the centre of his comprehensive integrative framework for connecting knowledge. Wilber has expanded holon theory into a new approach to und...
A core concept in Wilber's philosophy is the concept of the holon, which he borrowed from Arthur Koestler. The idea is that everything is not only a whole, but also part of a larger whole, so a "part/whole" or "hol-on". That is true for atoms, molecules, organisms, human being, but also for letters in a word, words in a sentence, sentences on a ...
Nov 22, 2016 · Principles of Holonic Philosophy. Within the last century an obscure strand of philosophy related to “holons,” has, particularly with adherents in the world of emerging technology, stated to make inroads on how we conceptualize the “corporation” and other human institutions. Understanding this philosophy is vital for understanding both ...
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To put it simply, a holon is a integrative perspective and, as Wilber now puts it, reality is constituted by perspectives. It's essentially Wilber's use of the holon construct (in the context of the AQAL system) which helps him to describe the theoretical aspects of his philosophy so logically and elegantly.
