Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses emergence in the abstract, discussing concepts or issues which are widely employed in both the philosophical and the scientific traditions. It explores the contrasting advantages and disadvantages of two corresponding strategies one might take in characterising a metaphysically interesting notion of emergence: scientism and abstractionism. The book argues that ‘substantive’ approaches, characterizing emergence in powers-based terms which are both scientifically informed and metaphysically contentful, can jointly meet the constraints. It examines how the notions of complexity and feedback can be used to characterise emergence and offers a distinction between ‘being emergence’ and ‘pattern emergence’. The book deals with a discussion of three challenges facing emergent dualism: the causal closure of the physical domain, the lack of positive empirical evidence for emergent dualism and the availability of rival positions in the mental causation debate that undercut the motivation for emergent dualism.