Fulguration

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Fulguration ( Latin fulgur " lightning ") is the term used by Konrad Lorenz for the sudden emergence of new properties in a complex system that cannot be predicted from the properties of the individual elements of the system. The term fulguration therefore corresponds to the word of Aristotle "The whole is more than the sum of its parts" and thus the more widespread term emergence today . With his scientific and systems-theoretical term "fulguration", Konrad Lorenz has resorted to a philosophical conceptual formation by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , which in the form of lightning metaphors in philosophy even goes back to the pre-Socratics.

Fulguration in natural science and systems theory

Konrad Lorenz had criticized the term emergence, however, because its German meaning ("Auftauchen") suggests that something that already exists, that has only been hidden, is coming to light. To make this difference clear, Lorenz had proposed the term fulguration instead .

Fulguration and flash metaphor in philosophy

Leibniz had introduced the concept of fulguration in the sense of a creatio continua in his monadology: “Accordingly, God alone is the original unity or the originally simple substance; all created or derived monads are his creations and arise, so to speak, from moment to moment through constant lightning-like emanations [fulgurations] of the deity […] ”. Creation is not a one-time act, but a constant, being-setting and at the same time maintaining effectiveness of God. The metaphor of fulguration specifies the metaphor of emanation , "by showing the diversity, suddenness, speed and illuminating function of existence-creating divine thought [...]."

Leibniz's lightning metaphor is modeled on the mystic and philosopher Jakob Böhme and in the Chaldean oracles . According to Böhme, lightning discharges from the contrast between “free lust” and “desire” in God and thus unfolds on the one hand the “kingdom of joy” and on the other hand the “hellish kingdom”. According to the Chaldean oracles, the ideas that form the first matter arise from the divine intellect like “inescapable lightning bolts”. Ultimately, this lightning metaphor goes back to “a demythizing reinterpretation of the 'flashing Zeus'” as the creator of all being in Kleanthes and Heraclitus .

literature

  • Werner Beierwaltes : Fulguration . In: Joachim Ritter (Hrsg.): Historical dictionary of philosophy . tape 2 . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1972, p. 1130 f .

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g W. Beierwaltes: Fulguration.
  2. Leibniz: Principle of Reason of Nature and Grace - Monadologie, Meiner, Hamburg 1982, 46.