Holocentric is a

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

position which focuses on solutions as the outcome of

human agency Agency is the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment. It is independent of the moral dimension, which is called moral agency. In ''sociology'', an agent is an individual engaging with the social structure. Notably, though, the prim ...

and on

critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis ...

. It is one of the four fundamental

worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...

types proposed by Richard Bawden in 1997, the other three being technocentric,

ecocentric Ecocentrism (; from Greek: οἶκος ''oikos'', "house" and κέντρον ''kentron'', "center") is a term used by environmental philosophers and ecologists to denote a nature-centered, as opposed to human-centered (i.e. anthropocentric), syst ...

, and

egocentric Egocentrism is the inability to differentiate between self and other. More specifically, it is the inability to accurately assume or understand any perspective other than one's own. Egocentrism is found across the life span: in infancy, early chi ...

. Drawing on ideas introduced by Burrell and Morgan and Miller, Bawden developed the notion of a worldview

matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

in which the four viewpoints represent the basic philosophical positions of members in a community of interest considering an

ontological In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...

dimension (with

holism Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...

and

reductionism Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical pos ...

along the x axis) and an

epistemological Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

dimension (with

objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with prod ...

and

relativism Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. Ther ...

contextualism Contextualism, also known as epistemic contextualism, is a family of views in philosophy which emphasize the ''context'' in which an action, utterance, or expression occurs. Proponents of contextualism argue that, in some important respect, the a ...

along the y axis). The so-called Miller–Bawden quadrants can be utilized as a framework to assist in the collaborative dialog of any cooperative endeavor and the positioning of the holocentric quadrant at the intersection of holism and relativism distinguishes it uniquely as a view which accommodates both the complex and often non-specific interactions that lie at the heart of any social group. In a community's response to threats and opportunities, the formulation of

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

will typically evolve through a dialog between stakeholder members holding different viewpoints. In a holocentric approach, the resulting strategy will include holistic characteristics in that the solution will reflect the constituent positions within the community with the addition of the creative tension that is contributed through the negotiation process. Through the dialog process,

emergent properties In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

arise in the strategy due to the interplay between the various stakeholder viewpoints. In order to improve the effectiveness of a community's responses, consideration must be given to techniques which can deal with complex systems and the advancement of critical thinking skills. Such techniques often employ aspects of

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective actio ...

to help community members better appreciate and deal with the

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

interdependencies and conflicts that arise between stakeholder views. As the community becomes more effective in the process of dialog, it may become more

self-aware In philosophy of self, self-awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's environment and body and lifesty ...

, and this ‘systemic’ heightening of awareness may lead to additional emergent properties which in turn may further increase the overall level of understanding and quality of the community response. Within a

cooperative community A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratical ...

, the

catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

s for the emergent understanding are the insights gained through inspirational learning and the abstract concepts learned through

experiential learning Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students ...

. Educational approaches aimed at managing the critical learning process through the application of the Miller / Bawden Quadrants have been used in a number of different domains, most commonly those in which a wide variety of stakeholders are forced to formulate strategies dealing with limited natural resources. In this environment, agreement amongst sufficiently powerful stakeholders in any community will inevitably involve negotiated trade-offs, for example between productivity, equity, sustainability and stability.WORKSHOP ON NATIONAL AND BASIN LEVEL DIALOGUE, BONN, DECEMBER 1 AND 2, 2001
/ref>

Footnotes

External links

* Property Management Planning Forum – Proceedings, March 31, 199

Concepts in philosophical anthropology

Footnotes

Further reading

External links