Thornburg, M. Hayden (2012) New Work for a Theory of Emergence. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Many discussions of emergence focus on the putatively irreducible causal powers of emergents. I argue that the question of whether emergents are irreducible causes should be postponed in favor of the question of whether emergents are natural. David Lewis contends that scientifically interesting properties are natural: they account for resemblances and distinguish causally relevant and irrelevant properties. I consider bimanual coordination, as described by the HKB model, as an example of natural emergence. I conclude that emergent properties are those that systemic processes have when they exhibit “instability” and argue that instability is the natural property that unites these processes.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Thornburg, M. Hayden thornbmh@mail.uc.edu
Keywords:	Emergence, Reduction, Metaphysics, HKB, Natural, Complexity
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation Specific Sciences > Complex Systems Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	M. Hayden Thornburg
Date Deposited:	02 Nov 2012 20:08
Last Modified:	10 Nov 2012 15:01
Item ID:	9395
Subjects:	General Issues > Causation Specific Sciences > Complex Systems Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Psychology
Date:	2012
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9395

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