James Ladyman

These sources examine the scientific and philosophical foundations of complexity, emergence, and naturalized metaphysics. They explore how intricate systems—ranging from neural networks and ant colonies to financial markets—generate robust order and adaptive behavior through decentralized interactions rather than central control. The authors analyze various mathematical metrics, such as statistical complexity and algorithmic information theory, to distinguish true complexity from mere randomness. Significant attention is given to ontic structural realism, which posits that the world is fundamentally composed of relational structures rather than independent individuals. Additionally, the texts discuss the integrative role of philosophy in unifying scientific knowledge through the compression of information and the study of emergent patterns. Ultimately, the collection bridges the gap between empirical observation and metaphysical theory to explain how large-scale coordination arises from simple local rules.

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Sources

Here is the complete list of sources contained in this notebook: • Abbott, Alison, et al. “Books & arts: In Silico focuses on Henry Markram’s attempts to model rodent and human brains.” Nature (2020). DOI: d41586-020-03462-3 (Contains reviews of In Silico [documentary], Wall Disease by Jessica Wapner, The Brutish Museums by Dan Hicks, What Is a Complex System? by James Ladyman & Karoline Wiesner, A Manual of the Mammalia by Douglas A. Kelt & James L. Patton, and Yellowstone Wolves by Douglas W. Smith et al.) • Gilles 3rd age choices. (Excerpt from newsletter/article). • Ladyman, James. “On Complexity.” (Excerpt/Draft). • Ladyman, James. “Scientific Realism Again.” Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2018), pp. 99-107. DOI: 10.4245/sponge.v9i1.29356 • Ladyman, James, James Lambert, and Karoline Wiesner. “What is a complex system?” European Journal for Philosophy of Science 3 (2013): 33–67. DOI: 10.1007/s13194-012-0056-8 (Draft dated Feb 27, 2011 also present). • Ladyman, James, James Lambert, and Karoline Wiesner. “What is a complex system?” (Presentation Slides). • Ladyman, James, and Don Ross (with David Spurrett and John Collier).Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized. Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN: 978–0–19–927619–6 • Ladyman, James, and Karoline Wiesner.What Is a Complex System? Yale University Press, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-300-25110-4 • Myhre, Ronny Selbæk. “Naturalism and the Metaphysics of Emergence.” Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift, vol. 43, nr 1 (2008), pp. 60–76. ISSN: 0029-1943 • On the Relation Between Philosophy and Science. (Article/Draft). • Ross, Don. “Review of Carsten Herrmann-Pillath and Ivan Boldyrev’s Hegel, institutions and economics: performing the social.” Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, Volume 8, Issue 1, Spring 2015, pp. 98-104. http://ejpe.org/pdf/8-1-br-1.pdf • Vitale, Christopher.Emergence as Philosophy: Or, Tractatus Reticulo-Relationis Emergere (“Network-Relational Treatise on Emergence”) with Relational Axiomatic and Networkological Calculus. (Manuscript Copyright 2025). • Votsis, Ioannis. “Structural Realism: Continuity and its Limits.” (Draft/Chapter). • Wiesner, Karoline. “Quantum statistical complexity: Sharpening Occam’s razor with quantum mechanics.” (Presentation Slides). • Wiesner, Karoline, and James Ladyman. “Measuring complexity.” (2020). (Excerpt from What Is a Complex System?, Yale University Press). • Wolff, J. Gerard. “On the ‘mysterious’ effectiveness of mathematics in science.” (2017). https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01534622v2 • Wolpert, David H. “What can we know about that which we cannot even imagine?” Santa Fe Institute. http://davidwolpert.weebly.com