Arthur Koestler's Holon
“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 "scientific" and behavioural psychologies with the holistic and humanistic worldview of the Freudian, Rogerian and Gestalt psychologies. Second, he recognised the importance and relevance of evolutionary processes in the social sciences and wanted to provide some theoretical system that could apply evolutionary conceptualisations to both realms. Third, he wanted to develop a model of human social systems that was equally at home in analysing the micro-level of individuality and the macro-level of collectivity. He wanted to propose some basic model of explanation that was relevant across the great span of human activity and involvement. Koestler acknowledged that his "holon" construct had, in fact, a very venerable and ancient ancestry in western philosophy. Several important philosophers including Leibniz and Hegel had drawn attention to the importance of such things as hierarchy and developmental levels. Koestler saw himself in a line of such thinkers who wanted to bring together different knowledge quests and schools of scientific endeavour instead of pursuing the ongoing specialisation in scientific knowledge that has characterised modern scientific schools. Holon theory was Koestler's attempt at an integrative philosophy of science and he expected that the holon theory or something similar would form the basis for any truly holistic future scientific worldview. He approvingly quotes one Needham who said that, "The hierarchy of relations ... will perhaps be the leading idea of the future". So, the holon construct was no small thing for Koestler and it is clear that he regarded his holonic principles as a solid attempt at an integrative philosophy of human existence. So what is a holon. The word is a combination of the Greek "holos" meaning whole, with the suffix "on" which, as in proton or neutron, suggests a particle or part. The holon, then, is a part-whole. It is a nodal point in a hierarchy that describes the relationship between entities that are self-complete wholes and entities that are seen to be other dependent parts. As one's point of focus moves up, down, and/or across the nodes of a hierarchical structure so one's perception of what is a whole and what is a part will also change.” - Edwards, M. C. (2013). A Brief History of Holons. Spiral Dynamics Integral. Sourced from: https://spiraldynamicsintegral.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Edwards-Mark-A-Brief-History-of-Holons.pdf
