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Natural Novelty

The Newness Manifest in Existence

Richard Boyle

Novelty is real. Cause-effect relationships come into existence that cannot be attributed to repetition of the relationships that came before them. This idea is relevant to everything from historical sciences, philosophy, religion, to our own subjective experience. But why, in the most general possible sense, do new things happen?

It is argued here that novelty results from a kind of “symbiosis” between systems that function in similar ways, but are made from different stuff. Similarly, novelty within consciousness derives from an interactive overlap between logical thought that is representable in language, and subjective thought that is not.

These ideas are developed through a consideration of a conceptual history of the new, a logical formalization of how novelty occurs, a discussion of the relevance of novelty to scientific questions surrounding Earth, life and consciousness, and an integrative reading of the respective philosophies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger.

University Press of America

Pages: 260 • Trim: 7 x 10

978-0-7618-6708-1 • Hardback • December 2015 • $96.00 • (£74.00)

978-0-7618-6709-8 • eBook • December 2015 • $91.00 • (£70.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Modern, Philosophy / Movements / Phenomenology, Philosophy / Movements / Existentialism, Philosophy / Movements / Analytic, Philosophy / Hermeneutics

Natural Novelty

The Newness Manifest in Existence

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Novelty is real. Cause-effect relationships come into existence that cannot be attributed to repetition of the relationships that came before them. This idea is relevant to everything from historical sciences, philosophy, religion, to our own subjective experience. But why, in the most general possible sense, do new things happen?

It is argued here that novelty results from a kind of “symbiosis” between systems that function in similar ways, but are made from different stuff. Similarly, novelty within consciousness derives from an interactive overlap between logical thought that is representable in language, and subjective thought that is not.

These ideas are developed through a consideration of a conceptual history of the new, a logical formalization of how novelty occurs, a discussion of the relevance of novelty to scientific questions surrounding Earth, life and consciousness, and an integrative reading of the respective philosophies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger.

Details

University Press of America

Pages: 260 • Trim: 7 x 10

978-0-7618-6708-1 • Hardback • December 2015 • $96.00 • (£74.00)

978-0-7618-6709-8 • eBook • December 2015 • $91.00 • (£70.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Modern, Philosophy / Movements / Phenomenology, Philosophy / Movements / Existentialism, Philosophy / Movements / Analytic, Philosophy / Hermeneutics

Author

Richard Boyle studies the relationship between major changes in the history of life and associated changes in the history of Earth’s climate. He gained a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford, followed by a Masters in Theoretical/Mathematical Biology from the University of London, and a PhD in Earth System Modeling from the University of East Anglia. He has published numerous research papers investigating coevolution of life and its physical environment, and has a keen enthusiasm for philosophy.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter Summaries
Prelude: Recurrence and Recombination
A Formal Abstract Scheme for Novelty Theoretical Considerations Relating To Real Instances of Novelty during the History of Life on Earth
Novelty, Meaningful Language
Subjectivity and Time: A Comparative Reading of Selected Works by Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger

Natural Novelty

The Newness Manifest in Existence

Richard Boyle

Natural Novelty

The Newness Manifest in Existence

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