ABSTRACT
The concept of emergence is built on three basic commitments: dependence, irreducibility, and novelty. The basic idea of emergence is that novel, irreducible phenomena arise when a system goes beyond some threshold. Novel phenomena conceived of as emergent can be explained without alluding to alien, immaterial substances. Emergence allows for the attractive prospect of a naturalist, materialist, but also anti-reductionist account of the world. The evidential situation for new forces or causes from emergent properties would suggest that another response is to develop a more ecumenical vision of physicalism. The chapter explores two forms of emergent dualism in the literature: supervenience emergentism and causal emergentism. If there is little by way of positive empirical evidence for emergent dualism, epistemically, the view is always a ‘last resort’ kind of view. The basic doctrine of emergence has been around since antiquity. Galen is said to have been an emergentist, and emergentist ideas have also been found in classical Indian philosophy.
