History of the Concept of Emergence

The beginning of this work is dedicated to the analysis of the status quaestionis of the concept of emergence, as it has been understood and studied over the years. In particular, this historical research has been divided into Chaps. 2 and 3, to give a more detailed account not only of the complexity of the problem but also of the main turning points it offers for our reflection. The first section, presented in this chapter, consists of a diachronic excursus that is going to be properly called historical, as it offers a path that originates from what has been recognized as the first roots of the evidence of the phenomenon of emergence, in the Babylonian era and then in Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisius, and Galen, to then enter the three major phases of its systematic study, starting from 1800: (1) British emergentism; (2) the intermediate period; (3) the new emergentism.