Books

Books : reviews

James Ladyman, Don Ross.
Every Thing Must Go: metaphysics naturalized.
OUP. 2007

Every Thing Must Go argues that the only kind of metaphysics that can contribute to objective knowledge is one based specifically on contemporary science as it really is, and not on philosophers’ a priori intuitions, common sense, or simplifications of science. In addition to showing how recent metaphysics has drifted away from connection with all other serious scholarly inquiry as a result of not heeding this restriction, Ladyman and Ross demonstrate how to build a metaphysics compatible with current fundamental physics (‘ontic structural realism’), which, when combined with their metaphysics of the special sciences (‘rainforest realism’), can be used to unify physics with the other sciences without reducing these sciences to physics itself. Taking science metaphysically seriously, they argue, means that metaphysicians must abandon the picture of the world as composed of self-subsistent individual objects, and the paradigm of causation as the collision of such objects.

Every Thing Must Go also assesses the role of information theory and complex systems theory in attempts to explain the relationship between the special sciences and physics, treading a middle road between the grand synthesis of thermodynamics and information, and eliminativism about information. The consequences of the authors’ metaphysical theory for central issues in the philosophy of science are explored, including the implications for the realism vs. empiricism debate, the role of causation in scientific explanations, the nature of causation and laws, the status of abstract and virtual objects, and the objective reality of natural kinds.

James Ladyman, Karoline Wiesner.
What is a Complex System?.
Yale University Press. 2020

rating : 2 : great stuff
review : 17 October 2022

What is a complex system? Although “complexity science” is used to understand phenomena as diverse as the behavior of honeybees, economic markets, the human brain, and the climate, there is no agreement about its foundations. In this introduction for students, academics, and general readers, philosopher of science James Ladyman and physicist Karoline Wiesner develop an account of complexity that brings the different concepts and mathematical measures applied to complex systems into a single framework. They introduce the different features of complex systems, discuss different conceptions of complexity in the literature, and develop their own account. They explain why complexity science is so important in today’s world.

Complex systems are all around us, and the topic is a hot area of study. But just what is a Complex System? They are not easy to define. Here, Ladyman and Wiesner discuss several aspects of Complex Systems, and tackle the definition problem. The issue is that there are several kinds of complex system, and there is not one set of features that is sufficient and necessary for all these kinds. What the authors do is discuss a collection of 10 features that cover these cases, and which features are applicable to which kinds of system.

The 10 features covered are: numerosity (many interacting components); disorder and diversity (no centralised control of heterogeneous components); feedback from iterated interactions; non-equilibrium (open to the environment); self-organisation emerging from interactions; non-linear dependence on driving forces; robustness to (certain) perturbations; nested structure and modularity including multiple scales; history and memory; adaptive behaviour.

This is a pragmatic approach to Complex Systems, putting structure on the domain without requiring overall uniformity. (The study of complex systems is complex!) It is a useful book that sits neatly between pop science introductory books, and more formal academic texts.