Theories of Emergence

While going back to philosophy conversations of the XIX Century, the concept of emergence faced a revival with the rise of complex systems theory. Emergence is one of the most fundamental - and most difficult to understand - properties of complex systems. The manifestation of macro patterns resulting from the interactions of system constituents has become a central focus across many disciplines and application areas. The rise of computational simulation modelling as an approach to complexity over the last half Century has helped to represent various processes of emergence. There is, however, no agreed or precise account of properties, elements, causes of emergence and, most importantly, of its explanatory status within complex systems theory. As a consequence, empirical progress has been made over the last years without touching too explicitly upon the concept of emergence.



The Research Topic, 'Theories of Emergence', has the ambitious objective to constitute the conceptual basis for major advancements in the epistemological and methodological foundations of the concept. While used in many empirical applications of complex systems theory, ranging from physical, biological, mechanical to social systems, the conceptual foundation of the concept remains blurred. By inviting scholars from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, this research topic will generate a broad discussion on properties, elements, causes, and effects of emergence and shed light on the use of emergence in applied research of the past decades down to the fundamental epistemological questions related to the nature of emergence. Thus, the Research Topic will investigate the question of whether empirical research of the past decades can inform the epistemology of emergence and vice versa, thus fostering mutual cross-fertilization between the domains. Thereby it will clarify the differences and commonalities of the many different and often conflicting conceptualizations of the theory of emergence by pursuing the overarching question whether there are distinct features of emergence in complexity theory. Bringing together different perspectives on the topic should set the agenda for further cross-disciplinary research.



We call for papers addressing both reflections on the application of the concept of emergence as well as on its theoretical and epistemological foundations. Contributions may provide novel insights, make original, new proposals on emergence, or may review and classify the body of literature. Contributions may include but are not limited to:

- epistemology and ontology;

- properties, elements, causes, and effects of emergence;

- computational accounts, illustrations, and explanations;

- mathematical and statistical representations;

- accounts of emergence in empirical research;

- measuring emergence;

- classifications.



The focus is mainly on the concept of emergence in social complexity research, but we are open to consider contributions from all domains. We welcome article types that range between original research, systematic review, mini review, perspective, conceptual analysis, classification, general commentary, and opinion.

Keywords: emergence, properties of complex systems, computational modeling, social systems, epistemology

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.