Posted by
Nick Thompson on
Oct 05, 2009; 8:00pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/EMERGENCE-SEMINAR-V-Dennett-et-al-WAS-emergence-seminar-what-s-next-tp3771294.html
Glen,
My colleagues have already told you what the assignment is, so what follows
is little more than spin.
In our attempts to understand what is going on in this tangled literature,
we have come up with only one way to characterize the different views of
emergence that seems to endure more than a week: that is the
epistemological vs ontological distinction. Hempel and Oppenheim fall
soundly on the epistemological side. For them, a characteristic of on
object is emergent relative to a theory and relative to a particular list
of part attributes when that characteristic cannot be deduced from the part
attributes using that theory. So, to say that a property is emergent is
only to say something about the state of our theory with respect to the
data we have already gathered.
Dennett seems to come down in the middle of our distinction. His argument
concerns what beliefs are REALLY. His answer -- that beliefs are really
features of the world as seen from a point of view -- implies a position on
the nature of emergence. Like Hemple and Oppenheim, Dennett would concede
that seeing emergence requires one to take a point of view.... a STANCE, if
you will. But taking that stance is like looking through binoculars ... it
may limit your field of vision, but it also tells you something that is
true of the world. In fact, every stance tells you something that is true
of the world.
A personal note: those who tried to follow my ravings concerning Holt and
the New Realism this summer wont be surprized to hear me say that Dennett
is sounding awfully like a New Realist.
See you Thursday at 4pm.
Sorry for duplicate posting.
N
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University (
[hidden email])
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> [Original Message]
> From: glen e. p. ropella <
[hidden email]>
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
[hidden email]>
> Date: 10/5/2009 9:38:53 AM
> Subject: [FRIAM] emergence seminar: what's next?
>
>
> What's next on the reading list?
>
> --
> glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095,
http://agent-based-modeling.com>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org