Call for Papers: EJPS topical collection on causality in complex systems
Guest editors: Tobias Henschen (Konstanz), James Ladyman (Bristol)
Topical Collection Description:
Philosophers interested in causality have usually analyzed it in the context of non-complex systems, and philosophers interested in complexity have not considered its implications for philosophical analyses of causality. Recently scientists and philosophers become increasingly aware of the ubiquity of complex systems, and philosophers have begun to respond by producing detailed studies of complexity (for example, Ladyman and Wiesner (2020) What is a Complex System?), and by examining some of the conceptual and/or inferential disconnections between complex systems and accounts of causality. Failure of explanation, prediction and control of complex systems can come with a substantial scientific and social cost, but can be overcome (climate scientists, for instance, overcome disconnections between nonlinearity and probability or interventionist accounts of causality when using classes of models to predict or project values of variables). There also appear to be important conceptual connections between complexity features and accounts of causality. A connection that is currently of interest to many philosophers and metaphysicians of science is that between emergence and causality (or modality more generally). These connections may also include the conceptual connection between (spontaneous) order and probabilistic accounts of causality. This topical collection will bring together work that analyzes the conceptual and/or inferential connections and disconnections between (specific) accounts of causality and (specific) features of (specific) complex systems. Standard examples of complex systems include condensed matter, the universe, the climate, eusocial animals, the economy, the world wide web, and the (human) brain. Features that are often regarded as indicative of complex systems include emergent nonlinearity, spontaneous order and organization, robustness, modularity and nested structure, and adaptive behavior. Specific accounts of causality include probability, interventionist, and conserved quantity accounts of (efficient) causality.
For further information, please contact Tobias Henschen (corresponding guest editor): tobias.henschen@uni-konstanz.de
The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2026.
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