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Emergence in Philosophy

Add The formation of complex symmetrical
and fractal patterns in snowflakes exemplifies
emergence in a physical system

In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," meaning the whole has properties its parts do not have. These properties come about because of interactions among the parts. In mathematical shorthand, W = P + I.

Emergence plays a central role in theories of integrative levels and of complex systems. For instance, the phenomenon of life as studied in biology is an emergent property of chemistry, and psychological phenomena emerge from the neurobiological phenomena of living things.

In philosophy, theories that emphasize emergent properties have been called emergentism. Almost all accounts of emergentism include a form of epistemic or ontological irreducibility to the lower levels.The phenomenon is universally present in nature, in all biological, geophysical and social domains.

The theory can be summed up as "the whole is greater than the parts.

From Wikipedia (click for complete article.)