Holistic moral philosophies may based on holons defined.

> it is in the interest of any living organism to continue to survive (with
some notable exceptions, as when an animal will sacrifice itself for it's
young, or some other such
>example), but it isn't in the interest of a car to 'go somewhere'. i think
>this is an important distinction... also, i similarly believe that it is
>in the interest of an ecosystem to survive... just as a plant will grow in
>different directions to situate itself toward the sun, or to better position
>itself around other plants to enhance its growth, an ecosystem will also
>make spontaneous changes to maximize its 'good'.... all comments are
>welcome...
>
>spirit

Subsystems or 'holons' have diverse growth and maintenance factors [or
system requirements which could be classified as autonomic or non-autonomic
needs]. The holon may be constrained by limitations in the abundance and
availability of a factor. Luxury consumption may result in imbalances in the
uptake of growth and maintenance factors, and result in other factors
becoming constraints.

In using ecological system integrity as a criteria to evaluate the condition
of the system it is recommended, as an ethical imperative, that "indicators
of ecosystem integrity should include indicators from as many different
perspectives and system descriptions, as practical. Those associated with
human value judgements, like economics or aesthetics, should not be excluded
by a prejudice for natural, ecological, or scientific perspectives." It is
therefore ethical to consider and protect. The act if completed - to
consider - gains results -to protect the interests of... holons.

Holons. "The time and scale of hierarchical organization represent scales of
organization. The distribution of interaction frequency and strength define
component subsystems or holons within the whole system. Discountinities in
the interactions define subsystem (holon) boundaries (Allen and Starr, 1982
IN King, A.W. 1993. Considerations of scale and hieracrchy. Pp. 19-45. In:
"Ecological integrity and the Management of Ecosystems", S.Woodley, J. Kay
and G. Francis (eds). St. Lucie Press.

Allen, T.F.H. and T.B. Starr. 1982. Hierarchy: Perspectives for Ecological
Complexity. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Examples of holons include a primary watershed, a wolf pack, a whale pod,
and a herring gull colony, or a cell within an organ; the structuring of
interactions between holons from a anthropomorphic perspective would be a
holistic moral philosophy and be inclusive of the interests and requirements
of all morally considerable beings. The scale and order of holons may be
purely practical and integrate value based judgements from economics and
aesthetics. An example of the structuring would be the determination of the
boundaries of protected area to maximize critical habitat, yet exclude areas
devoted to timber harvesting as a primary land use objective. A buffer
situated around the protected area would accomodate the interests and
requirements of the pathfinder or indicator species of ecosystem integrity
for the protected area, an area where optimally foraging and cover
requirements are met, but critical nesting and foraging [season and
potentially limiting environmental factors are controlled] is located in the
protected area.

John


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