The philosophy of organicism grew for me from architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s descriptions of organic architecture...I began extending the concept...I had thought I had in organicism a virtually new philosophy. I soon found that it was anything but. No one, however, had laid it out fully in the way I envisioned. No one had identified organicists, many of whom we know as geniuses, or enumerated the principles that unite them. While many individuals in various pursuits share a basic philosophy, no one to my knowledge, has applied it consistently to all areas of their life.

Merriam-Webster defines organicism as “1) A complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole and 2) An individual constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of organs separate in function but mutually dependent: a living being.”

Other dictionaries equate organicism with holism, a philosophy holding that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If holism were synonymous with organicism it would have been called whole-ism not hole-ism.

An individual idea or observation is as important as the larger whole it must fit into. But the whole is only tenable if the individual ideas or observations forming it are tenable. The whole is only useful if the smallest individual part is useful. The organicist is one who tests the strengths and worthiness of individual ideas and observations and fits them into larger ideas and observations, by reduction, expansion, and analogy...

The distinction between the whole being as important as its constituent parts and not more is most vital when considering society. A society can only approach an ideal of peace and prosperity if individuals are respected. A healthy society requires individuals who think independently and deal with others on a voluntary basis. It is wrong for individuals to aggress against others and no concept of the common good makes it acceptable for the whole of society, i.e., the government to aggress against individuals.

Principles of Harmony