The Routledge handbook of emergence /
edited by:Gibb, SophieHendry, Robin FindlayLancaster, Tom
edited by Sophie Gibb, Robin Hendry, and Tom Lancaster.
- 1 [edition].
- Oxon : Routledge, 2019.
- xiv, 409p.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Emergence is often described as the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: interactions among the components of a system lead to distinctive novel properties. It has been invoked to describe the flocking of birds, the phases of matter and human consciousness, along with many other phenomena. Since the nineteenth century, the notion of emergence has been widely applied in philosophy, particularly in contemporary philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and metaphysics. It has more recently become central to scientists’ understanding of phenomena across physics, chemistry, complexity and systems theory, biology and the social sciences.