Hierarchy and Order

Hierarchy (Greek hierarchia; from hieros, sacred archein, rule) is a kind of order, supposing existence of higher (or more sacred) and lower (less sacred) levels of reality. Order, in its turn, is a linkage of fundamentally different elements by means of general laws, so that the whole is greater than a simple arithmetical sum of its parts. Since order presupposes difference, it often takes the form of hierarchy. The place of an element in the hierarchical order is determined by the same laws of the whole, which are constitutive of the order itself.