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Holons are self-reliant units that possess a degree of independence and can handle contingencies without asking higher authorities for instructions (i.e., they have a degree of autonomy). These holons are also simultaneously subject to control from one or more of these higher authorities.
- 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...
Dec 28, 2023 · Holon theory allows us to see the universe as a nested hierarchy of holons, also known as a holoarchy. A holoarchy has a top-down influence and a bottom-up influence meaning that holons effect and influence each other bi-directionally on the holoarchy.
Dec 8, 2022 · What Isn’t a Holon? (Heaps, Wholes, and Artifacts) An overview of the different kinds of holarchy (or nested hierarchy) that exist in the universe. Inhabiting Social Holons Taking a first-person inside perspective of various holons in a group, at multiple levels of evolution. Finding Wholeness
Jul 19, 2024 · AI: A holarchy is a system of organization where each level, called a “holon,” is both a whole kkin itself and a part of a larger whole. In a holarchy, holons are self-contained units that maintain their autonomy while contributing to the integrity and function of higher levels of the system.
Dec 24, 2013 · Arthur Koestler coined the term “holon” from the Greek “hol” meaning whole and “on” meaning part. A holon is something which is simultaneously a whole relative to its constituent parts, and...
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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.
