Hierarchy theory

Hierarchy theory is a means of studying ecological systems in which the relationship between all of the components is of great complexity. Hierarchy theory focuses on levels of organization and issues of scale, with a specific focus on the role of the observer in the definition of the system. Complexity in this context does not refer to an intrinsic property of the system but to the possibility of representing the systems in a plurality of non-equivalent ways depending on the pre-analytical choices of the observer. Instead of analyzing the whole structure, hierarchy theory refers to the analysis of hierarchical levels, and the interactions between them.

See also

• Biological organisation
• Timothy F. H. Allen
• Deep history
• Big history
• Deep time
• Deep ecology
• Infrastructure-based development
• World-systems theory
• Structuralist economics
• Dependency theory

Further reading

• Brooks, Daniel Stephen (August 2014). The concept of levels of organization in the biological sciences (Ph.D. thesis). Bielefeld: Bielefeld University. OCLC 942715109.
• Eronen, Markus I. (August 2014). "Levels of organization: a deflationary account". Biology and Philosophy 30 (1): 39–58. doi:10.1007/s10539-014-9461-z. https://philarchive.org/rec/EROLOO. 
• Potochnik, Angela; McGill, Brian J. (January 2012). "The limitations of hierarchical organization". Philosophy of Science 79 (1): 120–140. doi:10.1086/663237. http://homepages.uc.edu/~potochaa/hierarchy.pdf. 
• Ahl, Valerie; Allen, Timothy F. H. (1996). Hierarchy theory: a vision, vocabulary, and epistemology. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231084803. OCLC 34149766. 
• Allen, Timothy F. H.; Hoekstra, Thomas W. (2015). Toward a unified ecology. Complexity in ecological systems series (2nd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231168885. OCLC 920475391. 
• O'Neill, Robert V.; Deangelis, Donald Lee; Waide, J. B.; Allen, Timothy F. H. (1986). A hierarchical concept of ecosystems. Monographs in population biology. 23. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 069108436X. OCLC 13526197. https://books.google.com/books?id=DOU9DwAAQBAJ. 
• Allen, Timothy F. H; Starr, Thomas B. (2017). Hierarchy: perspectives for ecological complexity (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226489711.001.0001. ISBN 978-0226489544. OCLC 967919711. 
• Guttman, Burton S. (February 1976). "Is 'levels of organization' a useful biological concept?". BioScience 26 (2): 112–113. doi:10.2307/1297326. 
• Pattee, Howard Hunt (1973). Hierarchy theory: the challenge of complex systems. International library of systems theory and philosophy. New York: George Braziller. ISBN 080760674X. OCLC 638741.