Beyond Weak and Strong: Emergence as Phase Transition and the Cost of Definitional Failure
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) March 21, 2026 Franny Philos Sophia
The concept of emergence is widely invoked across the sciences yet lacks an operational definition. Chalmers’ influential weak/strong dichotomy, which has dominated philosophical discussion for two decades, provides no measurable criterion for identifying emergence, no critical condition for its occurrence, and no falsifiable predictions. This paper argues that the dichotomy’s inadequacy has a...