  Contemporary complexity theory has been instrumental in providing novel
rigorous definitions for some classic philosophical concepts, including
emergence. In an attempt to provide an account of emergence that is consistent
with complexity and dynamical systems theory, several authors have turned to
the notion of constraints on state transitions. Drawing on complexity theory
directly, this paper builds on those accounts, further developing the
constraint-based interpretation of emergence and arguing that such accounts
recover many of the features of more traditional accounts. We show that the
constraint-based account of emergence also leads naturally into a meaningful
definition of self-organization, another concept that has received increasing
attention recently. Along the way, we distinguish between order and
organization, two concepts which are frequently conflated. Finally, we consider
possibilities for future research in the philosophy of complex systems, as well
as applications of the distinctions made in this paper.
