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Emergence without Mystery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

William Marias Malisoff
William Marias Malisoff*
Affiliation:
New York, N. Y.
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Extract

The meaning of emergence has been interpreted in a multitude of ways. What is it that emerges in turn from all this ado about emergence?

It is regrettable that the only distinctive overtone that seems to come forth is a lurking sense of mystery or mystification about unexpected or unforseen or “new” forms of organizations. This sense of mystery is conveyed most strongly by those who credit the alleged newness to some sort of subtle influence determined to make new things out of the old. Likewise it is also strongly suggested by those who pretend merely to stumble upon it as an “empirical” find,—but, oh, what a fantastic find!

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , January 1939 , pp. 17 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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References

Notes

1 I do believe that with some skill in intellectual acrobatics the molecule may be taken as the simpler. Indeed such a situation exists without forcing in physics in connection with neutrons and protons. Each can be synthesized from the other (neutron + positron = proton and proton + electron = neutron). Which is the more complex?

2 I do not claim that the parallel is so close, but the experiment almost begs for such an interpretation.