Staunch Hylomorphism and its Emergentist Credentials

Abstract This chapter addresses the emergentist credentials of two different forms of staunch hylomorphism: uniformism and pluriformism. The first section introduces staunch hylomorphism and identifies five features held by its exponents. The second section distinguishes uniform from pluriform versions of staunch hylomorphism. In the third section, three varieties of emergentism are presented and employed in order to evaluate the emergentist credentials of these two forms of staunch hylomorphism. The fourth section presents the basic features of Carl Gillett’s theory of scientific strong emergentism and in the fifth section the staunch hylomorphic credentials of Gillett’s emergentism are examined. It is argued that Gillett’s rich account of emergent entities and their ‘machretic determinations’ is strikingly similar to the claims made by staunch hylomorphism. The chapter concludes with some reasons why machretic strong emergentism should embrace staunch hylomorphism’s realism about forms.