Explaining emergence: Towards an ontology of levels
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Reference
Emmeche, C., Køppe, S., Stjernfelt, F. (1997). Explaining emergence: Towards an ontology of levels. Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 28: 83–119.
DOI
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1008216127933
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.
Extended Abstract
Bibtex
Used References
P.W. Anderson, "More is different", Science 177, (1972), 393–396.
Aristotle, Metaphysics, Harvard U.P., Camb. Mass., 1980.
W. Ross Ashby, "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.
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.
A. Beckermann, H. Flohr and J. Kim (eds.), Emergence of Reduction? Essays on the Prospects of Nonreductive Physicalism. Walter de Gruyter, New York, 1992.
Charles H. Bennett, "Logical depth and physical complexity". In Rolf Herken (ed.), The Universal Turing Machine. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988, pp. 227–257.
David Blitz, Emergent Evolution. Qualitative Novelty and the Levels of Reality. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1992.
M. Bunge, Treatise on Basic Philosophy Vol. 3. Ontology I: The furniture of the world. D. Reidel, Dordrecht-Holland, 1977.
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.
G. J. Chaitin, Information Theoretic Incompleteness. World Scientific, Singapore, 1992.
R. Chandebois and J. Faber, Automation in animal development. Basel, 1983.
Paul Davies, The Cosmic Blueprint. Orion Productions. Heinemann, London, 1987.
Hans Fink, "Naturens enhed og videnskabernes" (The unity of nature and of science). In H. Fink and K. Hastrup (eds.) Tanken om enhed i videnskaberne. Å rhus Universitetsforlag, Århus, 1990.
Steven Jay Gould, Wonderful Life. Penguin, 1989.
Erich Jantsch, The Self-Organizing Universe. Pergamon, Oxford and New York, 1980.
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.
Harold Kincaid, "Supervenience and explanation", Synthese 771988, 251–281 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00869436
Rolf Landauer, "A simple measure of complexity", Nature 3361988, 306–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/336306a0
Christopher G. Langton (ed.), Artificial Life. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Proc. Vol. 6. Redwood City, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1989.
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.
Erwin Laszlo, Introduction to Systems Philosophy. Gordon and Breach, New York, 1972.
George Henry Lewes, Problems of Life and Mind, first series, 2 vols. True\ ⊂ner and Co., London. [third series, 1879], 1874–75.
Sven-Eric Liedmann, Motsatserners spel, Vol I-II. Bo Cavefors, Stockholm, 1977.
Conwy Lloyd Morgan, Emergent evolution. Williams and Norgate, London, 1923.
Joseph Needham, "Evolution and Thermodynamics". In Needham: Time: The Refreshing River. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1941, pp. 207–232.
Heinz Pagels, The Dreams of Reason. Simon & Shuster (Bantam ed.), N.Y. 1989).
H. H. Pattee, [a] "Dynamic and linguistic modes of complex systems", Int. J. General Systems 31977, 259–266. [b] "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.
Penrose, R., The Emperor’s New Mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989.
J. Petitot, [a] "Structure". In Th. Sebeok (ed.) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics, I-III. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 1986. Physique du sens. Paris, 1992.
M. Polanyi, Life’s irreducible structure. Science, 160, 1968, 1308–1313.
Kr. Pomian (ed.), La quérelle du déterminisme. Gallimard, Paris. 1990.
Ilya Prigogine & Isabelle Stengers. Order Out of Chaos. Bantam Books, New York, 1984.
S. N. Salthe, [a] Evolving hierarchical systems, New York, 1985. [b] Development and Evolution. Complexity and Change in Biology. MIT Press, Cam\ ⊂ridge, Massachusetts, 1993.
Erwin Schrödinger, What is Life? Cambridge University Press, 1944.
R. Thom, [a] Structural Stability and Morphogenesis, Reading, Mass, 1977. [b] Apologie du Logos.Paris, 1990.
Francisco J. Varela & Paul Bourgine (eds.), Towards a Practice of Autonomous Systems. MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass, 1992.
Jeffrey S. Wicken, Evolution, Thermodynamics, and Information. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987.
S. Wolfram, "Cellular automata as models of complexity", Nature 311, 1984, 419–424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/311419a0
F. Eugene Yates (ed.), Self-Organizing Systems. The Emergence of Order. Plenum Press, New York, 1987.
