Antonella Corradini & Timothy O'Connor (eds.)
Routledge (2010)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
The concept of emergence has seen a significant resurgence in philosophy and the sciences, yet debates regarding emergentist and reductionist visions of the natural world continue to be hampered by imprecision or ambiguity. Emergent phenomena are said to arise out of and be sustained by more basic phenomena, while at the same time exerting a "top-down" control upon those very sustaining processes. To some critics, this has the air of magic, as it seems to suggest a kind of circular causality. Other critics deem the concept of emergence to be objectionably anti-naturalistic. Objections such as these have led many thinkers to construe emergent phenomena instead as coarse-grained patterns in the world that, while calling for distinctive concepts, do not "disrupt" the ordinary dynamics of the finer-grained (more fundamental) levels. Yet, reconciling emergence with a (presumed) pervasive causal continuity at the fundamental level can seem to deflate emergence of its initially profound significance. This basic problematic is mirrored by similar controversy over how best to characterize the opposite systematizing impulse, most commonly given an equally evocative but vague term, "reductionism." The original essays in this volume help to clarify the alternatives: inadequacies in some older formulations and arguments are exposed and new lines of argument on behalf the two visions are advanced
|
Keywords | Emergence (Philosophy Science Philosophy |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2013 |
Buy this book | $56.41 new (10% off) $62.95 from Amazon $63.53 used Amazon page |
Call number | Q175.32.E44.E445 2010 |
ISBN(s) | 9780415802161 9780415848459 9780203849408 0415848458 0415802164 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options

Mark A. Bedau is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Reed College, Visiting Professor at the European School of Molecular Medicine, And.Antonella Corradini
On the Implications of Scientific Composition and Completeness: Or, the Troubles, and Troubles, of Non-Reductive Physicalism.Carl Gillett
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
Appearing Out of Nowhere: The Emergence of Spacetime in Quantum Gravity.Karen Crowther - 2014 - Dissertation, University of Sydney
The Collaborative Emergence of Group Cognition.Georg Theiner & John Sutton - 2014 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 37 (3):277-278.
Similar books and articles
Microdeterminism and Concepts of Emergence.Robert L. Klee - 1984 - Philosophy of Science 51 (March):44-63.
The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis From Science to Religion.Philip Clayton & Paul Davies (eds.) - 2006 - Oxford University Press.
Emergence in Science and Philosophy * Edited by Antonella Corradini and Timothy O'Connor.W. Seager - 2012 - Analysis 72 (2):396-398.
Computational and Conceptual Emergence.Paul Humphreys - 2008 - Philosophy of Science 75 (5):584-594.
The Dual Role of 'Emergence' in the Philosophy of Mind and in Cognitive Science.Achim Stephan - 2006 - Synthese 151 (3):485-498.
Strong and Weak Emergence.David J. Chalmers - 2006 - In P. Davies & P. Clayton (eds.), The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis From Science to Religion. Oxford University Press.
The Emergence of Group Cognition.Georg Theiner & Tim O'Connor - 2010 - In A. Corradini & T. O'Connor (eds.), Emergence in Science and Philosophy. Routledge. pp. 6--78.
Discoveries and the Emergence of New Fields in Science.Lindley Darden - 1978 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1978:149 - 160.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2010-05-19
Total views
17 ( #636,416 of 2,508,046 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #276,895 of 2,508,046 )
2010-05-19
Total views
17 ( #636,416 of 2,508,046 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #276,895 of 2,508,046 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads