Gestalt Theory arose in the beginning of the 20th century as a holistic school of psychological thought. Originally focused upon processes of perception, thinking, and problem-solving, the Gestalt Theory has established itself as a general theory of psychology, applicable throughout conscious life – situated as it is both in individual experience and the larger societal field. The Theory’s recognition of self-organizing processes in nature (e.g., Prägnanz – a tendency to optimize order within given conditions, relational determination) is suggestive of third causal factor (besides nature and nurture) in sentient life (both individual and societal), which offers a much needed alternative to traditional mechanistic and reductionist views.

Gestalt Theory advances the idea that “the whole is different from the sum of its parts” (not necessarily „more than the sum“ as is often heard in common parlance). In its view, the whole is not a mere summation of separate parts. It is instead by way of the particular interrelations of those parts with one another, in the formation of that larger whole (or context, or field). This is to say, all objects of experience are relationally determined: They arise to consciousness as parts of larger contexts (also as contexts unto themselves, with their own internal part-structure), even if those contexts and part-structures are not well-represented in consciousness.