Emergence: Key physical issues for deeper philosophical inquiries

A sketch of three senses of emergence and a suggestive view on the emergence of time and the direction of time is presented. After trying to identify which issues philosophers interested in emergent phenomena in physics view as important I make several observations pertaining to the concepts, methodology and mechanisms required to understand emergence and describe a platform for its investigation. I then identify some key physical issues which I feel need be better appreciated by the philosophers in this pursuit. I end with some comments on one of these issues, that of coarse-graining and persistent structures.Comment: 16 pages. Invited Talk at the Heinz von Foerster Centenary International Conference on Self-Organization and Emergence: Emergent Quantum Mechanics (EmerQuM11). Nov. 10-13, 2011, Vienna, Austria. Proceedings to appear in J. Phys. (Conf. Series

Emergence: Key physical issues for deeper philosophical inquiries

A sketch of three senses of emergence and a suggestive view on the emergence of time and the direction of time is presented. After trying to identify which issues philosophers interested in emergent phenomena in physics view as important I make several observations pertaining to the concepts, methodology and mechanisms required to understand emergence and describe a platform for its investigation. I then identify some key physical issues which I feel need be better appreciated by the philosophers in this pursuit. I end with some comments on one of these issues, that of coarse-graining and persistent structures.Comment: 16 pages. Invited Talk at the Heinz von Foerster Centenary International Conference on Self-Organization and Emergence: Emergent Quantum Mechanics (EmerQuM11). Nov. 10-13, 2011, Vienna, Austria. Proceedings to appear in J. Phys. (Conf. Series