Discussion on Holism, Wholeness Seminar

Discussion on Holism

Is There A Single-Eyed Or Domain-Centred Wholeness?

Some Reflections and Questions regarding
the concept of holism as originally created
by Jan C. Smuts

A contribution to start the discussion (January, 1997)
on the fundamental origins and depth of wholeness and holism

by Heiner Benking

I decided to contribute after reading the article of Willis HARMAN in this seminar and in particular his reference to attributions regarding the genesis of holism to Arthur Koestler and Ken Wilber. I had discussed this with Willis Harman 18 months ago and we had agreed that a group here in Germany will look into some philosophical and historical backgrounds regarding some publications in America. As he passed away before our work was completed I feel it is my duty put forward our findings -- which is not a criticism of HARMAN or WILBER, but an observation how domains absorb or repel sources or lines of thought and some developments and inventions have to be reinvented to make them aware when times and groups are ready for them.

It is ironic that in psychology or medicine Jan C. SMUTS is seen as the father of holism but system sciences somehow has forgotten or neglected him.

French author Jean-Marie ROBINE, in Le Holism de J. C. Smuts , http://www.gestalt.org/robine.htm, questions if SMUTS is not a victim of intellectual apartheid, as the foundation of, for example, the Gestalt therapy of F.S. PERLS is strongly influenced by and based on the works of SMUTS.

Another example: Ken WILBER only gives reference to works about SMUTS published in the 60's (for example in "Eye to Eye" but does not go to the originals; and Erich JANTSCH sees Smuts as the grandfather of holism but does not go to the originals in his texts or references either. Ken Wilber presents in his new book: SEX, ECOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY, Shambala 1995 a map of holarchies adopted from Taylor's emerging geopolitical system levels but does not present a unifying scheme towards mapping holarchies, as Stephen Jay Kline does with his 'hierarchies of constitutions' in 'THE POWERS AND LIMITATIONS OF REDUCTIONISM and SYNOPTISM' - Stanford University, Programme in Science, Technology and Society, Report CF1, February 1996.

'BEYOND REDUCTIONISM', Alpbach Symposium, 1968 The author feels much closer to Paul Weiss and his 'inscribed domains' - than to the oversimplistic and 'symbolic' metaphors like hierarchical trees. Paul Weiss who introduced the term 'systems' in biology in the 20ies, gave the keynote, and with L. von Bertalanffy, Koestler, Smythies and others, gave a memorable talk about life and systems at the1968 Alpbach Symposium, which was called 'BEYOND REDUCTIONISM'. The proceedings including recommendations and discussions are highly recommended! Koestler, Smythies(1969): English original: MACMILLAN – Hutchinson & Co. Publishers - German version: MOLDEN publishers, Vienna.

The author sees a lot of potential in following some of the old questions and problems raised there, but which obviously have fallen into forgetfulness.

Paul Weiss was pointing out in the Alpbach symposium, where a very impressive and interdisciplinary group of system thinkers met to discuss such aspects from all angles, that there is a migration along and across scales. He strongly opposed oversimplifications like Koestler's (symbolic ! tree) hierarchies, as they were not presenting living, dynamic and fluid as he observed in Nature. As this interaction along and across hierarchical scales is actually the working area of integrated ecosystem research and management, we would like not only to point out that some questions are still open, and that the 'forgotten' founding fathers, called by history 'naive' or 'generalists' might prove to be helpful and we have to look into 'old and new thinking'. See also Intesymp symposium Baden-Baden, August 1997 keynote: 'Descartes' Error and Our Fallacy' available from the author. http://www.unine.ch/ciesys/HolSympList2.html. We should at least take the opportunity to look at them with 'new eyes' instead of neglecting them and maintaining the familiar 'one-eye only' glasses (lenses).

But back to the need to share ideas about wholes and connectedness, context and conceptual neighborhoods. The author has done some earlier research on the concepts as Smuts developed them in 1912 in his INQUIRY into the WHOLE, later in HOLISM and EVOLUTION 1926, and later as an entry to Holism in the 1927 ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANNICA. It is about how to see a concept as a body of meaning and how we can discuss sections, levels and perspectives in complex multi-scale environments. The author is well aware of the works of Arthur Koestler, much admires his genius and esprit as a writer and has followed up on his works, in particular on holism, holons, and holarchies. Being too young to have experienced the history of the fight against reductionism, he believes with Stephen Kline that the main problems are scientific overclaims and that we have not found out how to go beyond single perspectives to trying a concert of views. Nevertheless the works of SMUTS when looking at them anew today make much sense, especially as SMUTS was trying to bring together the physiosphere, biosphere, and noosphere into one design.

It is not clear to the author why the work of SMUTS was somehow neglected in the scientific community. It is obvious that the time - in and between the wars - was most difficult, and apparently biosystemic organic views were already too much for conventional materialistic and reductionistic (only) approaches to swallow.

It is time to review the past and the potential - especially as the metaphors and views still governing our models and thinking fall short of the realities of a sorely needed holistic, organic, ecosystemic approach, and it seems to be high time to bring together again experts from all fields and generalists, like in Alpbach in 1968, to plot the next step in the story of coexisting schemas like: reductionism and holism. Such a hearing, as has been requested nicely in: http://www.cts.cuni.cz/reports/1997/CTS-97-04.htm, by Ivan Havel's ( in this seminar also) might be the needed approach to sharing incompatible viewpoints. For ways to manage such meetings and hold and accept different perspectives see: http://www.newciv.org/worldtrans/GIB/diyfut/DIY-24.HTML, http://www.uia.org/uiadocs/conftr0.htm, and http://www.uia.org/uiadocs/diaparl.htm.

The old saying is 'watch your metaphors' - It looks like that the founders of system sciences were very well aware of the limitations of terms and approaches. Today we seem to have bought into over-simplistic pictures, scientific overclaims, and settled only on one higher level of reductionism instead of combining the merits of a spectrum of approaches into one bouquet of incompatible but nicely arranged and complementary aspects. Please see also some of the authors line of thought tending towards embodying and sharing pan-focal, trans-disciplinary, and multi-perspective representations into a meta-paradigm: The contribution: Panorama of Understanding can be found in this seminar at: http://www.newciv.org/ISSS_Primer/seminrva.html and the authors homepage: http://newciv.org/cob/members/benking.

We would like to invite discussion and further study of the doctoral thesis and publications of Martin H. van MEURS, available in April 1997 in Dutch - English and German translations are in progress. Title: J.C. SMUTS: STAATSMAN, HOLIST, GENERAAL.

Literature

Beukes, P. (1991,92,93,94): The Holist, Romantic, Religious Smuts, Human& Rousseau, Cape Town
Beukes, P. (1996): Smuts the Botanist, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
Hancock, W.K. (1962): Smuts I, The Sanguine Years, 1870-1991, Cambridge
Hancock, W.K. (1968): Smuts II, The Fields of Force, 19919-1950, Cambridge
Kline, Stephen Jay (1996): The powers and Limitations of reductionism and synoptism, Program in Science, Technology and Society, report CF!, Stanford University, February 1996
Koestler, A.,Smythies, J.R. (1969): The Alpbach Symposium 1968 - Beyond reductionism - New perspectives in the life sciences
Roukens de Lange, Aart (1987): Holims and Health in Perspective,
Institute for Futures Research, Stellenboch, In: Odyssey June/July 1987, ISSN 00256-0356
van Meurs, M. (1997): J.C. Smuts - Staatsman, holist, Generaal, Suid- Afikaanse Institut, Amsterdam, ICG -Printing Dordrecht, ISBN 90-74112-13-7 Dutch Version, translation in progress
Jan C. Smuts (1973): Walt Whitman, Detroit
Jan C. Smuts (1973):Holism and Evolution, Westport
Jan C. Smuts (1996):Holism and Evolution, GESTALT JOURNAL PRESS, International Gestalt Therapy Association, Highland, NY

PS:

(September 1997) I learned only last week what Arthur Koestler has written somehow as his testimony and summary in his last major book, called: JANUS - A Summing Up (1978). Arthur Koestler died in 1980, in need of the ‘EXIT’.
As I can only, at this point, translate freely from my notes from the German book. I invite, whoever cares, to exchange this ‘free’ excerpts with the original text. The text is from the first paragraph of the chapter ‘The Holarchy’ right in the beginning, in the German edition on page 38:

Excerpt:

Smuts created the term ‘Holism’ and wrote and extraordinary book, called: EVOLUTION AND HOLISM which for some time was very well received. In the academic world in never gained ground, because 1.) it was against the spirit of the Times, and 2.) it has, maybe, a more philosophical than an empirical approach, which was not applicable for the test in a laboratory.

This answers some of the questions in the original discussions above and before, but also creates new ones, why do we avoid looking at the sources, why do we outcast and are afraid with our sectarianism of sciences, and how do we find sources when the ‘spirit of the Times’ changes !? I hope I made it very clear that we need many sides and not expel voices and views and fight over meaning and definitions, like we fight over territories.

SHARING FUTURES times, spaces, voices, views, values,... in shared perspective http://www3.informatik.uni-erlangen.de:1200/Staff/graham/benking/index.html Voice: +49 731 501 -910 FAX -929 benking@faw.uni-ulm.de Heiner BENKING, PoBox 2060, D- 89010 Ulm, GERMANY