Emergence
When complex patterns or behaviors arise from simpler component interactions — properties the whole has that the parts don’t have alone. The reason reductionism has limits.
Formal Definitions
Mobus & Kalton (2015):
“Elements in the directed graph denote terms that will be used in the top-level ontology of systems. These are the things that exist by virtue of the Universe organizing as it does, through auto-organization, emergence, and evolution… These are the core things that we will look for in our analysis of systems regardless of the level of organization or complexity.”
(Principles of Systems Science, Section 3.5)
Emergence follows from hierarchical composition: auto-organization → emergence → selection forms the ontogenetic cycle that produces increasingly complex systems.
(Section 3.5, systems ontology)
Bunge (1979):
“Emergent properties are ones that are new for a system at a time step.”
(A World of Systems, p. 29, Chapter 1)
On the relationship to self-organization:
“Self-organization is a special case of self-assembly.”
(A World of Systems, p. 27, Chapter 1)
Synthesis
Critical distinction: Bunge defines emergence temporally (novelty at time t), not through irreducibility or predictability. This makes emergence empirically testable rather than philosophically contested. Mobus links emergence to the ontogenetic cycle: systems auto-organize, novel properties emerge, selection acts, and the cycle repeats.
Both reject naive holism while embracing emergent properties. Understanding parts is necessary but not sufficient for understanding wholes.
Examples
- Wetness emerges from H₂O molecules (no single molecule is wet)
- Consciousness emerges from neural activity
- Market prices emerge from individual trades
- Traffic jams emerge from driver decisions
Explore Further
- Emergent properties are temporally new — Bunge’s precise definition
- What’s necessary for life or mind? — Zwick on emergence as central question
- Mental characteristics in the whole — Bateson on mind as emergent
- Problems emerge from situations — Zwick on systemic emergence
- Self-organization vs self-assembly — Bunge’s distinction
Related Concepts
- System — the level at which emergence occurs
- Feedback Loop — often the mechanism behind emergence