1 Levels of Reality – Inductively? Towards an Inductive Theory of Levels of Reality Łukasz Lamża The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland 'The Whitehead Metaphysical Society

2 Plan 1. Introduction and philosophical background (1 slide) 2. Methodology (7 slides) 3. Results (8 slides) 4. Discussion (1 slide)

3 Introduction ■ The complexification of Nature as a starting point. (from static structure to dynamic 'structurization': if Nature exhibits some sort of structure, it is historical) ■ Some related issues in philosophy:  philosophy of science: intratheoretical reduction;  philosophy of nature: emergence in causality;  ontology: ontological emergence, levels of reality. ■ Possible relationships between scientific results and philosophy.

4 Methodology ■ Method in general: a) list all natural phenomena; b) group according to historical and causal relationships; c) check for patterns. ■ Obvious problem no. 1: there is no 'list of all natural phenomena' Solution: use bibliographic databases as a first proxy (‘all that exists’ -> ‘all that is talked about’)

5 Methodology ■ PACS ® 2008: Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme 2008

6 Methodology ■ PACS ® 2008: Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme 2008 ■ Ca entries ■ Hierarchical structure (max. 5 levels) ■ Scope (1 st level categories): 10 Elementary particles and fields 20 Nuclear physics 30 Atomic and molecular physics 40 Electromagnetism. Optics. Acoustics. Heat transfer. Classical Mechanics. Fluid Dynamics 50 Physics of gases, plasmas and electric discharges 60 Condensed matter: I 70 Condensed matter: II 80 Interdisciplinary physics (incl. Chemistry, Rheology, Biological physics, Materials science etc.) 90 Geophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics

7 Methodology ■ PACS ® 2008: Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme 2008 ■ Hierarchical structure: 90. Geophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics 91. Solid Earth physics Marine geology Cw Beach and coastal processes 20. Nuclear physics 26. Nuclear astrophysics Hydrostatic stellar nucleosynthesis Fj Stellar helium burning

8 Methodology ■ PACS-related problems:  From bibliographic categories to natural entities  ‘Physico-centrism’ > focus on everything up to the rise of biological systems ■ General problems of quantitative studies of natural complexification:  What is an ‘object’?  What is an 'unbalanced view' of complexity? (Why is the emergence of a new kind of animal, e.g. human, more important than the emergence of a new kind of chemical substance?)

9 Methodology ?

10 Methodology ■ The final list of 'natural objects': 349 level-3 PACS categories, e.g.  Neutrino interactions  Alpha decay  Macromolecules and polymer molecules  Natural convection  Plasma dynamics and flow  Liquid crystals  Surface conductivity  Subcellular structure and processes  Stellar clusters and associations

11 Results ■ The scheme of natural history used:

12 Results

13 Results 1. Natural complexification is both localized and inhomogeneous:  114 'objects' (33% of all objects) appear within the Big Bang – and are inherited by all of physical space – but the rest is confined to certain locations (e.g. 14 objects [4%] are present only in planetary atmospheres and hydrospheres).  There are multiple 'chemistries' or 'mineralogies', just like there are multiple ‘geologies’: the development of any group of objects follows different paths in different places.

14 Results

15 Results 2. Natural complexification is episodic. There are 4 major episodes of intensive complexification:  Big Bang [32,6%]  Gaseous envelopes of evolved stars [15,4%]  Protoplanetary disks [21,8%]  Young solid-surface planets [14,0%]  Together: 83,8% of all complexification in just 4 short episodes.

16 Results

17 Results 3. Natural complexification does not follow any rigid 'group hierarchy'.  some 'astrophysical' phenomena rely on 'nuclear' phenomena [e.g. envelopes of supernovae are heated mostly through radioactive decay]  some 'nuclear' phenomena rely on 'astrophysical' phenomena [e.g. most heavy nuclei form only in stars above certain mass]  some 'chemical' phenomena rely on 'macro-physical' phenomena [e.g. certain chemical reactions occur only on solid surfaces]  some 'macro-physical' phenomena rely on 'chemical' phenomena [e.g. many rheological phenomena occur only in certain chemically-defined materials]  a dramatic example: our ‘discovery’ of superconductivity

18 Results

19 Results

20 Discussion ■ Future developments:  Universal Decimal Classification (better representation of non-physical disciplines);  methods of assessing 'importances' of natural groupings;  possibility of making the project less philosophically naïve? (ontological decisions?)

21 Levels of Reality - Inductively? Thank you for your attention! Łukasz Lamża The Pontifical University of John Paul II The Whitehead Metaphysical Society