Brighton Integral Salon

And interesting video.

It gets more interesting halfway through, when it talks about Holons and Ken's work in more detail.

Beyond reductionism

The idea of the "holon" was introduced by Arthur Koestler in 'The Ghost in the Machine' (1967)

The "holon" represents a very interesting way to overcome the dichotomy between parts and wholes and to account for both the self-assertive and the integrative tendencies of an organism.[1]

Ken Wilber takes the idea of a holon, and the holarchy, and propounds 20 tenets which describe the nature and functions of holons.

Wilber's claim is that the entire universe is composed of holons and, along with creativity, are ultimate categories that we need "before we can think about anything else at all".[2]

So, if we want a metaphysics that takes everything in the universe into account, we can start with holons and see where that takes us.

20 Tenets of Holons

from http://www.emrgnc.com.au/tenets.htm

1. Reality as a whole is not composed of things or processes, but of holons, i.e. wholes that are parts of other wholes, indefinitely. Tenet 1: Reality is composed of whole/parts or holons

2. Holons display four fundamental capacities:
i) self-preservation - principle of autonomy or agency.
ii) self-adaptation - principle of communion.
iii) self-transcendence - ability to go beyond the given, i.e. creativity.
iv) self-dissolution - ability to break down to its sub-holons.

3. Holons emerge - new holons/entities/patterns come into being.

4. Holons emerge holarchically - i.e. hierarchically; go beyond their predecessors.

5. Each emergent holon transcends and includes its predecessor(s); - preserves their being but negates their exclusiveness.

6. The lower sets the possibilities of the higher; the higher sets the probabilities of the lower.

7. The number of levels which a hierarchy comprises determines whether it is 'shallow' or 'deep'; the number of holons on any given level we shall call its 'span'.

8. Each successive level of evolution produces greater depth and less span.

Addition I. The greater the depth of a holon, the greater its degree of consciousness. [9]

9. Destroy any type of holon, and you will destroy all of the holons above it and none of the holons below it;
- less depth = less significance to the Kosmos, i.e. more of the Kosmos is external to the holon; it is more fundamental.
- more depth = more significance = less fundamental. [10]

10. Holarchies co-evolve, i.e. interrelatedness of holon (micro) and its environment (macro). [11]

11. The micro is in relational exchange with the macro at all levels of its depth; - each layer of a holon's depth continues to exist in (and depend upon) a network of relationships with other holons at the same level of structural organisation. [12]

12. Evolution has directionality: [13]

a) increasing complexity; [14]
b) increasing differentiation/integration [15]
- differentiation produces partness, a new 'manyness'
- integration produces wholeness, a new 'oneness';
c) increasing organisation/structuration; [16]
d) increasing relative autonomy; [17]
e) increasing telos; - deep structure of a holon acts as an attractor/magnet for the actualisation of it in time and space. [18]

Addition II. Every holon issues an IOU to the Kosmos; - IOU = Incomplete Or Uncertain - constant tension between consistency and completeness, between agency and communion. [19]

Addition III. All IOUs are redeemed in Emptiness; - holons are conventional truths - Emptiness/Spirit is ultimate truth. [20]

References:

[1] http://www.panarchy.org/koestler/holon.1969.html
[2] Wilber, Ken. 'A Brief History of Everything'(1996), p25
[3] http://www.emrgnc.com.au/tenets.htm