TY - CHAP T1 - Complexity T2 - Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences Y1 - 2013 A1 - Carlos Gershenson ED - Byron Kaldis AB - The term complexity derives etymologically from the Latin plexus, which means interwoven. Intuitively, this implies that something complex is composed by elements that are difficult to separate. This difficulty arises from the relevant interactions that take place between components. This lack of separability is at odds with the classical scientific method - which has been used since the times of Galileo, Newton, Descartes, and Laplace - and has also influenced philosophy and engineering. In recent decades, the scientific study of complexity and complex systems has proposed a paradigm shift in science and philosophy, proposing novel methods that take into account relevant interactions. JF - Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences PB - SAGE UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.0214 ER -