Emergence, Naturally!

Author: Ulanowicz, Robert E.

Source: Zygon, Volume 42, Number 4, December 2007 , pp. 945-960(16)

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Abstract:

The prevailing common assumptions about how nature behaves have their origins in the early Enlightenment. The notion of emergence does not sit comfortably within this framework. Emergence appears virtually impossible within a world determined by ineluctable and unwavering natural laws. But the variety and combinations inherent in living systems render physical laws indeterminate. The study of ecological dynamics suggests that processes rather than laws are what accounts for most order seen in the living realm. As a consequence, there are aspects of ecological dynamics that violate each of the Newtonian postulates. The dynamics of ecosystems suggest a smaller set of rational assumptions through which to view nature—an “ecological metaphysic.” Emergence appears as a rare but wholly natural phenomenon within the new rational platform. In addition, several apparent conflicts between science and theism that arose under the Newtonian framework simply vanish under the new perspective.

Keywords: causality; chance; Darwinism; determinism; dialectic; ecology; emergence; evolution; free will; indeterminacy; materialism; metaphysics; naturalism; Newtonianism

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2007.00882.x

Affiliations: 1: Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, 1 Williams Street, Solomons, MD 20688-0038;, Email: ulan@cbl.umces.edu.

Publication date: 2007-12-01