Holon (philosophy)

The term holon (Greek ὅλος, Holos and ὀν, on " the part of a whole beings " ) was coined by Arthur Koestler and means a whole that is part of another whole. It is paraphrased as " whole / part ".

For example, a cell for a whole but part of a larger whole, an organ which is in turn part of the body. Such a resulting hierarchy of holons is called a holarchy.

According to Ken Wilber has every holon

• Two " instincts " or " tendencies " to preserve to preserve its wholeness ( " agent " ) and its slope ( " Communion " )
• A "vertical assets " to " Selbstranszendenz " ( higher education units) and " self-dissolution " ( decomposition into its components ).

These are the " four shoots " of each holon.

If a system holares one imagines as a layer model, is its particular property that each individual layer can only reflect itself, but is capable of his subordinate (s) layer (s) to transcend. Here, each holon is always striving to remain autonomous.

Generally speaking, the holon is a system of relations, which is represented at the next higher level, as a unit, ie a referent.

Holare systems are found today in philosophy, physics, automation technology, ecology, sociology, economics and computer science.