ABSTRACT
The part/whole relation generates a conception of levels of reality. Quarks are parts of protons; protons are parts of atoms; atoms are parts of molecules and macromolecules; macromolecules are parts of cells; cells are parts of bodies; bodies are parts of colonies, herds and societies. Emergentism and epiphenomenalism go hand-in-hand. Emergentism is the view that as various systems of constituents become more complex, they may acquire properties or features that emerge from that complexity. Emergentism is also evident in the thinking of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, the theory of dissipative structures and of self-organising systems. The different layers of the cake are then loosely connectedmodules, corresponding to the bodies of doctrine in well-established scientific disciplines dealing with the respective levels of reality as discussed earlier.
