The concept of emergence is useful as a guard against certain errors, such as, for example, conspiratorial theories which explain phenomena as the product of intentions (malign or benevolent). Order does not always arise from intention. If society is lawful, that is not necessarily because there is some commander dictating that it be lawful. The lawfulness of society may be a phenomenon with a mostly dispersed, decentralized cause (e.g., lawfulness may be in large part enforced by ostracism of transgressors and thus enforced by all members of society rather than by an elite and privileged police apparatus applying the decisions of a legislature). Similarly, a sudden rise in the price of something may not be the product of a secret cartel or of a particular government policy or politician, but may be the result of a non-obvious confluence of disparate causes. When we say that prices emerge from the marketplace rather than being set by some authority, we are denying the idea that there is some person or group who has chosen that the price should be what it is, a person who can be appealed to to change his mind, or blamed for his decision.
The concept of emergence is useful as a guard against certain errors, such as, for example, conspiratorial theories which explain phenomena as the product of intentions (malign or benevolent). Order does not always arise from intention. If society is lawful, that is not necessarily because there is some commander dictating that it be lawful. The lawfulness of society may be a phenomenon with a mostly dispersed, decentralized cause (e.g., lawfulness may be in large part enforced by ostracism of transgressors and thus enforced by all members of society rather than by an elite and privileged police apparatus applying the decisions of a legislature). Similarly, a sudden rise in the price of something may not be the product of a secret cartel or of a particular government policy or politician, but may be the result of a non-obvious confluence of disparate causes. When we say that prices emerge from the marketplace rather than being set by some authority, we are denying the idea that there is some person or group who has chosen that the price should be what it is, a person who can be appealed to to change his mind, or blamed for his decision.