{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,6]],"date-time":"2026-04-06T10:26:01Z","timestamp":1775471161902,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,8,1]],"date-time":"2016-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1470009600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["K"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2016,8,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to contribute to refine the conceptual framework of complexity. For such a purpose, a number of epistemologically oriented remarks are provided, arguing about the relevance of second-order considerations for complexity and the importance of pluralism in scientific research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>At first, the paper focuses on one of the topical areas of complexity research, i.e. network theory, but uses this for drawing the attention to more general issues. The underlying assumption is that scientific and philosophical research might complement each other, and that this is especially crucial for the advancement of complexity.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper suggests three ways for refining the scheme of complexity: analyzing it at the right level, i.e. not focusing on single principles or theories (e.g. network theory), but rather on the overall frame; including both ontological and epistemological considerations; and recognizing how the epistemological implications of complexity foster the adoption of a pluralist stance in scientific research (and beyond).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Social implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The way in which science (complexity) is portrayed, i.e. as \u201cperspectival\u201d and inclined to pluralism, could impact on how it is thought, designed and socially perceived.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>Complexity is one of most promising fields of contemporary science, but still lacks of a coherent frame of analysis. This requires an investigation from different point of views, as an object of interdisciplinary cooperation. The main paper\u2019s value consists of providing second-order considerations which puts scientific findings in perspective and can contribute to a better understanding of their meaning from a philosophical standpoint too.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/k-05-2015-0125","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,9,9]],"date-time":"2016-09-09T08:11:35Z","timestamp":1473408695000},"page":"1158-1170","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Complexity, network theory, and the epistemological issue"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"45","author":[{"given":"Fulvio","family":"Mazzocchi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-5812.2007.00411.x","article-title":"Three generations of complexity theories: nuances and ambiguities","volume":"40","year":"2008","journal-title":"Educational Philosophy and Theory"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"687","DOI":"10.1007\/s10699-012-9300-0","article-title":"Complexity, networks, and non-uniqueness","volume":"18","year":"2013","journal-title":"Foundations of Science"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref007","volume-title":"Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else","year":"2003"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1038\/nphys2188","article-title":"The network takeover","volume":"8","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nature Physics"},{"issue":"5439","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"509","DOI":"10.1126\/science.286.5439.509","article-title":"Emergence of scaling in random networks","volume":"286","year":"1999","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref010","volume-title":"Discovering Complexity: Decomposition and Localization as Strategies in Scientific Research","year":"2010"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1080\/0951508021000041996","article-title":"BioComplexity: a pluralist research strategy is necessary for a mechanistic explanation of the \u2018live\u2019 state","volume":"15","year":"2002","journal-title":"Philosophical Psychology"},{"issue":"5939","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"414","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1171022","article-title":"Revisiting the foundations of network analysis","volume":"325","year":"2009","journal-title":"Science"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1002\/cplx.10059","article-title":"Theories of complexity: common denominators of complex systems","volume":"8","year":"2003","journal-title":"Complexity"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref014","volume-title":"Complexity and Postmodernism: Understanding Complex Systems","year":"1998"},{"issue":"7","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref015","first-page":"605","article-title":"Knowledge, limits and boundaries","volume":"17","year":"2005","journal-title":"Futures"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1007\/s10441-009-9089-6","article-title":"Ins and outs of systems biology vis-\u00e0-vis molecular biology: continuation or clear cut?","volume":"58","year":"2010","journal-title":"Acta Biotheoretica"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.2307\/2027085","article-title":"Real patterns","volume":"88","year":"1991","journal-title":"The Journal of Philosophy"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref018","volume-title":"The Disorder of Things: Metaphysical Foundations of the Disunity of Science","year":"1993"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref019","volume-title":"Conquest of Abundance: A Tale of Abstraction Versus the Richness of Being","year":"1999"},{"issue":"10","key":"key2020121403362597700_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1060","DOI":"10.1002\/bies.20294","article-title":"Revisiting \u2018scale-free\u2019 networks","volume":"27","year":"2005","journal-title":"BioEssays"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref021","volume-title":"The Quark and the Giaguar: Adventures in the Simple and in the Complex","year":"1994"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref022","volume-title":"Scientific Perspectivism","year":"2006"},{"key":"key2020121403362597700_ref023","unstructured":"Heylighen, F., Cilliers, P. and Gershenson, C. 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