system

The nature of a system is that all its parts are integrated in such a way that the proper function of each part is necessary for the proper functioning of all other parts. Thus, the system constitutes an entity different from the mere summation of all its components. From this fact also the following feature results: The system has a life of its own (regardless of whether it is an organism or an inorganic system), because it functions only as long as all its parts remain integrated in the particular form that the system demands. The system as a whole dominates the parts, and the parts are forced to function within the given system―or not at all. The system has an inner coherence that makes its change extremely difficult. ― (1992k [1969]: The Desintegration of Societies, in: E. Fromm, On Being Human, New York (Continuum) 1994, p. 42.)