Questions tagged [emergence]
The emergence tag has no usage guidance.
27
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1answer
84 views
Emergent consiousness
Thought experiment on emergent consciousness from physical object - brain:
Imagine we record all neural firings of human brain within 5 seconds interval. Now, if we replace each neuron with a single ...
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2answers
131 views
References for books/papers about emergentism and reductionism
I am trying to look for resources to deepen some topics presented in this workshop Moving Naturalism Forward. Especially the point on emergence (and secondarily on evolution and determinism, but here ...
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2answers
78 views
Is emergence necessarily context dependent? [closed]
Basically this question stems from trying to answer yet another question that I have:
How does one analyse emergent properties that are not quantifiable, to allow for discrete mathematical probing?
...
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1answer
98 views
Reverse epiphenomenalism and recursion?
Let's say for a moment that the mind is of unknown substance, and that the state of a particular brain region is emergent from it. That is certain states of the mind will cause certain states of this ...
3
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1answer
740 views
How can complex material systems emerge in ways that allow them to transcend fundamental material structures?
One of the quandaries of reductionism from what I understand is how complex systems can emerge to overtake simple ones. This may sound convoluted, so bear with me as I try to explain.
According to a ...
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0answers
49 views
Are decidability problems an example of strong emergence?
According to David Chalmers, speaking on Strong Emergence:
We can say that a high-level phenomenon is strongly emergent with respect to a
low-level domain when the high-level phenomenon arises ...
2
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1answer
144 views
Why has modern physics not permeated throughout all of philosophy?
Modern physics seems to agree that both time and space are not really fundamental - they are emergent properties. This is articulated well in the IEP article on time.
However, it seems that much of ...
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2answers
261 views
Debate on dualism, physicalism. etc in philosophy of mind
(I do not have a philosophy background but I do read philosophy myself.)
I have read some review papers of emergence theory, where philosophy of mind is a major battle ground. I find an absence of a ...
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1answer
227 views
Is emergentism incompatible with reductionism?
I've read, on several occasions, that emergentism is maybe not all the way contrasted but at least to some degree conflicted with reductionism. As I understand, emergentism is a doctrine within ...
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1answer
88 views
Is information causal?
I am coming to this question in response to scepticism about emergentism as more than an overlay (eg. SEP article).
Entropy is well established as related to relative information about systems, and ...
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4answers
219 views
Is the concept of emergence sufficient in blocking reductionism?
Is emergence the only avenue to follow in order to successfully short-cirquit full reductionist explanations?
What other recourse does one have to avoid full-fledged reductionism without risking ...
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13answers
897 views
Sketch of a proof for real free will?
I have read many contemporary philosophers and the mainstream view seems to be that real free will is an illusion in the sense that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon which is only set on top of ...
2
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1answer
192 views
Do naturalists think that only microscopic physical things exist?
I was reading an article on time in physics, which is meant to emerge at the macroscopic level. This is interpreted as that it does not really exist.
Is that because only microscopic physical things ...
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4answers
124 views
Can purpose be attributed to events without grounding in agency
As observers we observe events around us. All events have causes, either deterministic causes or non-deterministic ones. As observers however we can additionally attribute purpose (or meaning as in ...
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1answer
524 views
Is there a fundamental difference between strong and weak emergence?
Weak emergent properties are said to be properties of a large system that can be predicted or derived by computing the interactions of the system's constituent parts.
Strong emergent properties of a ...
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4answers
148 views
Emergent Complexity In Probability Distributions
I originally posted this in Physics SE but was told it's more appropriate here...
In quantum mechanics we describe waves of probability or probability distributions. Does this have to or should it be ...
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5answers
490 views
Relation between Existence of Free Will and Existence of the Self
So, I am a student in mathematics and physics with no formal training in philosophy whatsoever, although I enjoy reading popular discussions of philosophical questions. However, my question is bound ...
3
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2answers
571 views
If a physical property is emergent, can it still be artificially recreated?
Let's assume that a physical property is emergent, in the sense that it cannot be reduced to a function of the properties of its components. Can such a property be artificially recreated, or is that a ...
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1answer
473 views
What are the relations between supervenience, grounding and emergence in philosophy of science?
So, I am wondering if anyone could help me with the notions of grounding (supervenience?) and emergence in the modern discussions in philosophy of science. What are they and what is the relation ...
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2answers
181 views
Intentionality and emergentism in Marxist theories?
This question came to mind when reading about Adorno and Horkheimer's Culture Industry, but it might apply to any Marxist theory where the bourgeoisie/capitalist class performs some action to defend ...
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3answers
239 views
Can Thomas Nagel be considered a pantheist?
I have recently come across Thomas Nagel's book "Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False", which I've only skimmed. I've also just finished ...
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1answer
176 views
What is supervenience emergentism?
I'm trying to understanding supervenience emergentism, but the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry is unclear.
My understanding of supervenience was that the lower level properties of the ...
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1answer
570 views
Hierarchical Reductionism vs Emergentism [closed]
How does Hierarchical Reductionism (as coined by Richard Dawkins) differ from Emergentism exactly?
Edit:
Dawkins' definition of hierarchical reductionism: https://books.google.fr/books?id=-...
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2answers
1k views
Holism, reductionism and emergence
I try to understand the difference between holism and reductionism and I wonder whether the concept of emergence belongs to the first one or whether it is just "holism through the eyes of a ...
1
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1answer
59 views
About determinism and any relevant views
Is there a term or set of concepts regarding what one might call non-materialistic determinism? The possible idea determinism might not only apply to sets of interacting physical 'things' but also to ...
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2answers
2k views
What are the arguments against the emergence of mind?
There are theories that state that a mind or human consciousness emerged from the properties of underlying systems, e.g. physical properties of the atoms of the brain, or biological properties of the ...
3
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2answers
7k views
What's the difference between “emergence” and “reductionism”?
Isn't a system, which emerged from simpler system also reducible to the simpler system? More general, is emergence the reverse term to reducitionism?
