Emergent phenomena belong only to biology.
In this philosophical paper, I discuss and illustrate the necessary three ingredients that together could allow a collective phenomenon to be labelled as 'emergent.' First, the phenomenon, as usual, requires a group of natural objects entering in a non-linear relationship and potentially entailing t...
| Publicado en: | Synthese Vol. 185; no. 2; pp. 257 - 273 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Mar2012
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=73822878&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 73822878 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2012 vid: 185 iid: 2 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 73822878 10.1007/s11229-010-9724-4 ppf: 257 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 558KB tig: atl: Emergent phenomena belong only to biology. aug: au: Bersini, Hugues affil: IRIDIA-ULB, 50, av. Franklin Roosevelt, CP 194/6 1050 Bruxelles Belgium su: Emergence (Philosophy) Natural selection Cell metabolism Phenomenology Biology experiments Philosophy of biology sug: subj: Emergence (Philosophy) Natural selection Cell metabolism Phenomenology Biology experiments Philosophy of biology keyword: Emergence Mechanical observer ab: In this philosophical paper, I discuss and illustrate the necessary three ingredients that together could allow a collective phenomenon to be labelled as 'emergent.' First, the phenomenon, as usual, requires a group of natural objects entering in a non-linear relationship and potentially entailing the existence of various semantic descriptions depending on the human scale of observation. Second, this phenomenon has to be observed by a mechanical observer instead of a human one, which has the natural capacity for temporal or spatial integration, or both. Finally, for this natural observer to detect and select the collective phenomenon, it needs to do so on account of the adaptive advantage this phenomenon is responsible for. The necessity for such a teleological characterization and the presence of natural selection drive us to defend, with many authors, the idea that emergent phenomena should belong only to biology. Following a brief philosophical plea, we present a simple and illustrative computer thought experiment in which a society of agents evolves a stigmergic collective behavior as an outcome of its greater adaptive value. The three ingredients are illustrated and discussed within this experimental context. Such an inclusion of the mechanical observer and the natural selection to which this phenomenon is submitted should underlie the necessary de-subjectivation that strengthens any scientific endeavor. I shall finally show why the short paths taken by ant colonies, the collective flying of birds and the maximum consumption of nutrients by a cellular metabolism are strongly emergent. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2012. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2012 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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