A holon is simultaneously a whole and a part, an important concept in systems thinking. It’s an evolving, self-organizing system (or phenomenon) composed of other holons. Their structures sit on the boundary of chaos and order (see complexity).
… the rules, or codes, which govern a social holon act not merely as negative constraints imposed on its actions, but also as positive precepts, maxims of conduct or moral imperatives. … Every holon will tend to persist in and asserts its particular patterns of activity.
… No man is an island — he is a holon. (Koestler, A. 1967)
LINKS
- Koestler, A. (1967). The Ghost in the Machine. Hutchinson.