[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/ Skip to main content
Log in

EXPLAINING EMERGENCE: TOWARDS AN ONTOLOGY OF LEVELS

  • Published:
Journal for General Philosophy of Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The vitalism/reductionism debate in the life sciences shows that the idea of emergence as something principally unexplainable will often be falsified by the development of science. Nevertheless, the concept of emergence keeps reappearing in various sciences, and cannot easily be dispensed with in an evolutionary world-view. We argue that what is needed is an ontological non reductionist theory of levels of reality which includes a concept of emergence, and which can support an evolutionary account of the origin of levels. Classical explication of emergence as “the creation of new properties” is discussed critically, and specific distinctions between various kinds of emergence is introduced for the purpose of developing an ontology of levels, framed in a materialistic and evolutionary perspective. A concept of the relation between levels as being inclusive is suggested, permitting the “local” existence of different ontologies. We identify, as a working hypothesis, four primary levels and explicate their nonhomomorphic interlevel relations. Explainability of emergence in relation to determinism and predictability is considered. Recent research in self-organizing non-linear dynamical systems represents a revival of the scientific study of emergence, and we argue that these recent developments can be seen as a step toward a final “devitalisation” of emergence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
£29.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • P.W. Anderson, "More is different", Science 177, (1972), 393–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle, Metaphysics, Harvard U.P., Cam\ ⊂. Mass., 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  • W. Ross Ash\ ⊂y, "Principles of the self-organizing system". In Heinz Von Foerster & George W. Zopf, (eds.): Principles of Self-Organization. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1962, pp. 255–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nils A. Baas, "Emergence, Hierarchies, and Hyperstructures". In C. G. Langton (ed.), Alife III, Santa Fe Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Proc. Volume XVII, Addison-Wesley, Redwood City, 1994, pp. 515–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Beckermann, H. Flohr and J. Kim (eds.), Emergence of Reduction? Essays on the Prospects of Nonreductive Physicalism. Walter de Gruyter, New York, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charles H. Bennett, "Logical depth and physical complexity". In Rolf Herken (ed.), The Universal Turing Machine. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988, pp. 227–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • David Blitz, Emergent Evolution. Qualitative Novelty and the Levels of Reality. Kluwer Academic Pu\ ⊂lishers, Dordrecht, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Bunge, Treatise on Basic Philosophy Vol. 3. Ontology I: The furniture of the world. D. Reidel, Dordrecht-Holland, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peter Cariani, "Emergence and Artificial Life". In Christopher G. Langton, Charles Taylor, J, Doyne Farmer and Steen Rasmussen (eds.), Artificial Life II. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Proc. Vol. X.Addison-Wesly, Redwood City, Calif., 1992, pp. 775–797.

    Google Scholar 

  • G. J. Chaitin, Information Theoretic Incompleteness. World Scientific, Singapore, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • R. Chande\ ⊂ois and J. Fa\ ⊂er, Automation in animal development. Basel, 1983.

  • Paul Davies, The Cosmic Blueprint. Orion Productions. Heinemann, London, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hans Fink, "Naturens enhed og videnska\ ⊂ernes" (The unity of nature and of science). In H. Fink and K. Hastrup (eds.) Tanken om enhed i videnska\ ⊂erne. Å rhus Universitetsforlag, Århus, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steven Jay Gould, Wonderful Life. Penguin, 1989.

  • Erich Jantsch, The Self-Organizing Universe. Pergamon, Oxford and New York, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  • Immanuel Kant, Kritik der reinen Vernunft, 1781. Kritik der Urteilskraft, 1790.

  • Stuart Kauffman, The Origins of Order. Self-organization and selection in evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harold Kincaid, "Supervenience and explanation", Synthese 771988, 251–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolf Landauer, "A simple measure of complexity", Nature 3361988, 306–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christopher G. Langton (ed.), Artificial Life. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Proc. Vol. 6. Redwood City, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christopher G. Langton, Charles Taylor, J. Doyne Farmer and Steen Rasmussen (eds.), Artificial Life II. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Proc. Vol. X. Redwood City, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erwin Laszlo, Introduction to Systems Philosophy. Gordon and Breach, New York, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • George Henry Lewes, Pro\ ⊂lems of Life and Mind, first series, 2 vols. True\ ⊂ner and Co., London. [third series, 1879], 1874–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sven-Eric Liedmann, Motsatserners spel, Vol I-II. Bo Cavefors, Stockholm, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conwy Lloyd Morgan, Emergent evolution. Williams and Norgate, London, 1923.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph Needham, "Evolution and Thermodynamics". In Needham: Time: The Refreshing River. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1941, pp. 207–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinz Pagels, The Dreams of Reason. Simon & Shuster (Bantam ed.), N.Y. 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  • H. H. Pattee, [a] "Dynamic and linguistic modes of complex systems", Int. J. General Systems 31977, 259–266. [\ ⊂] "Simulations, realizations, and theories of life", p. 63-77. In C. G. Langton (ed.), Artificial Life. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Proc. Vol. 6. Redwood City, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1989, pp. 63–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penrose, R., The Emperor’s New Mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Petitot, [a] "Structure". In Th. Se\ ⊂eok (ed.) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics, I-III. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 1986. Physique du sens. Paris, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Polanyi, Life’s irreduci\ ⊂le structure. Science, 160, 1968, 1308–1313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kr. Pomian (ed.), La quérelle du déterminisme. Gallimard, Paris. 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ilya Prigogine & Isa\ ⊂elle Stengers. Order Out of Chaos. Bantam Books, New York, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  • S. N. Salthe, [a] Evolving hierarchical systems, New York, 1985. [\ ⊂] Development and Evolution. Complexity and Change in Biology. MIT Press, Cam\ ⊂ridge, Massachusetts, 1993.

  • Erwin Schrödinger, What is Life?Cam\ ⊂ridge University Press, 1944.

  • R. Thom, [a] Structural Sta\ ⊂ility and Morphogenesis, Reading, Mass, 1977. [\ ⊂] Apologie du Logos.Paris, 1990.

  • Francisco J. Varela & Paul Bourgine (eds.), Towards a Practice of Autonomous Systems. MIT Press. Cam\ ⊂ridge, Mass, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey S. Wicken, Evolution, Thermodynamics, and Information. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Wolfram, "Cellular automata as models of complexity", Nature 311, 1984, 419–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • F. Eugene Yates (ed.), Self-Organizing Systems. The Emergence of Order. Plenum Press, New York, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

EMMECHE, C., KØPPE, S. & STJERNFELT, F. EXPLAINING EMERGENCE: TOWARDS AN ONTOLOGY OF LEVELS. Journal for General Philosophy of Science 28, 83–117 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008216127933

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008216127933

Navigation