Definitions for "Holarchy"
Keywords:  holon, koestler, arthur, wilber, ken
"Whole order," synthesis that reflects the order of the totality.
A hierarchy of holons In Janus, a Summing Up, Arthur Koestler presents the theory of holons, as a third way between atomism and holism. Each entity at each hierarchical level, each " holon" as Koestler termed them, is both a whole of the parts or entities of the level below, and a part of the whole above. Atoms are made of subatomic particles, molocules of atoms, biological cells of molocules, and so on, upto the entire cosmos as a whole. Koestler coined the term Holarchy ( wikipedia page) to describe this particular hierarchy. This term was then adopted by Ken Wilber who added a lot of additional ideas, and created a sort of monadology based on the idea that all that exist are Holons and nothing else ( Wilber 2000b pp.17f. etc). This, in my opinion, makes the concept of holarchy too amorphous (if everything is a holon, why even say "holon"?). Also, there may well be entities like the Samkhyan concept of purushas that are not a part of or made up of, other units.
a developmental series that is made up of autonomous holons
a model of organizational structure which provides various levels of social strata for administrative purposes, but not various levels of authority