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Journal of Humanistic Psychology
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Holonomy an Ethic of Wholeness

Ib Ravn

Department of Social Systems Sciences, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

This article attempts to clarify the meaning of "good" by linking it to a concept of wholeness derived from the process philosophy of David Bohm (1980a). Bohm draws a distinction between implicate order, which is a domain of reality characterized by flux and potentiality, and explicate order, which is the Newtonian-Cartesian order of stable phenomena and actuality. This article proposes a model of human development whereby the emergence of explicate phenomena from the implicate order may proceed in two general directions: toward fragmentary order or toward holonomic order, whether in the individual or in the world. Fragmentary order compartmentalizes and oppresses human activity; holonomic order liberates and empowers people. Borrowing from the analogy of the hologram, this article suggests that holonomic order further enables people to see or experience a larger meaning or wholeness in each of the parts or segments of their lives; fragmentary order implies disconnectedness and conflict within and among people. In a fragmentary order, the categories of good and bad are dichotomized, and bad is suppressed. In a holonomic order, good and bad are seen as equally necessary, and pain, the experience of bad, is recognized as a symptom of an underlying malady, inviting us to learn and develop.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 3, 98-118 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167888283007
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