Emergence

General Definition

In philosophy of science, emergence designates the appearance of qualitatively new properties in a system, which cannot be predicted or explained solely by the sum of the parts. These properties emerge from reorganizations of matter and possess their own dynamics — they are irreducible to the previous level of complexity.

In the **Ontology of Emergent Complexity**, however, this definition acquires a deeper ontological unfolding: emergence does not result from complexity as accumulation, but from the friction between unstable material regimes, which reorganize locally and establish singular forms without plan, without essence, and without external origin.

Ontological Variations in the Ontology of Emergent Complexity

Emergence as Active Ontogenesis

Reality is not composed of static entities, but of fields of continuous transformation. Emergence is the name of ontogenesis — of the dynamic constitution of the real as an effect of the reorganization of matter.

Emergence and Plasticity

Emergence presupposes instability and operative plasticity. There is no program or final cause: there are material conditions that, upon reorganizing, establish new modes of being. Each emergence is singular.

Emergence and Critique of Reduction

The concept of emergence breaks with physical reductionism and dualistic spiritualism. It proposes an **immanent** path where the new arises from the local reorganization of the system — without external origin or transcendental essence.

Emergence and Operative Instability

All emergence is inseparable from the local instability of matter. This entry shows how the new emerges from deviation, internal tension, and instability — not from equilibrium.

Emergence and the Ontological Gesture

Emergence is neither consequence nor chance: it is a minimal **gesture** that reorganizes. This entry explores how every new form results from an operative **gesture** of symbolic inscription.

Emergence and Order as Effect

Emergence does not produce order as a principle, but as a transient local effect. This entry undoes the association between emergence and finality.