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Redefining emergence: Making the case for contextual emergence in critical realism.
- Source :
-
Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour . Jun2024, Vol. 54 Issue 2, p167-184. 18p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Emergence is central to critical realism, but there has been little attempt to develop a systematic account of this concept within the tradition. Two notable exceptions are seen in the work of Dave Elder‐Vass and Tony Lawson. However, both face problems in responding to reductionist claims and accounting for downward causation. This paper proposes contextual emergence as a robust alternative that overcomes these issues and provides a better justification for critical realism's stratified worldview. Contextual emergence explains that while properties at a lower 'level' offer necessary conditions, for emergence to obtain, there must also be contingent conditions at a higher 'level'. This approach maintains many of critical realism's intuitions about emergence, providing a robust account of ontological stratification and downward causation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CRITICAL realism
*WORLDVIEW
*INTUITION
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00218308
- Volume :
- 54
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 177627081
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12414