Systemics of Emergence : Research and Development

Within the General Systems Theory (GST) approach, it is possible to focus on "emergent" systemic properties (typically occurring in open, adaptive, anticipatory and chaotic systems), by stressing their specificity and their lack of reducibility into further components. In other words, emergence underlies the processes allowing the establishing of systemic properties. Research on emergence deals with experimental detection, modeling and simulation of processes giving rise to the occurrence of macroscopic (often complex and unexpected) behaviors in complex systems consisting of a large number of components. Actually such a theoretical and experimental effort relies on analytical methods, such as the ones used in modern theories of self-organization, collective-behaviors, phase transitions and artificial life. In sum, the research on emergence analyzes the engine of GST, while GST itself focuses on the general outcomes of this research, thus conceptually inducing an inter- and trans-disciplinary context.

SYSTEMICS OF EMERGENCE: Research and Development is a volume devoted to exploring the core theoretical and disciplinary research problems of emergence processes from which systems are established. It focuses on emergence as the key point of any systemic process. This topic is dealt with within different disciplinary approaches, indicated by the organization in sections: 1) Applications; 2) Biology and human care; 3) Cognitive Science; 4) Emergence; 5) General Systems; 6) Learning; 7) Management; 8) Social Systems; 9) Systemic Approach and Information Science; 10) Theoretical issues in Systemics.

The Editors and contributing authors have produced this volume to help, encourage and widen the work in this area of General Systems Research.