Abstract

The notion of a superorganism has had a long and not altogether respectable history (Ghiselin 1974). The idea of comparing the world to a divine animal goes back to a creation myth in Plato's dialogue Timaeus, and it has played an important role in occult metaphysics ever since. Astrology, for example, works by superimposing a diagram of the human body over a map of the celestial bodies. The analogy between organisms and societies has also played a major role in political discourse. The superorganism has been particularly popular with those who would have the individual citizen exist for the sake of the state, rather than the state for the sake of the citizen. Among community ecologists and students of social ..