Emergence

Emergence refers to properties or capabilities that arise from combinations of elements and cannot be reduced to those elements — the effect is greater than the sum of its parts, the way a baked cake is more than its ingredients.

In social ontology, collective properties arise from individual interactions but possess irreducible causal powers: institutional arrangements produce effects that cannot be reduced to individual characteristics, and cultural systems shape action in ways that transcend individual psychology. Emergent properties depend on individual actions for their ongoing reproduction, yet are not reducible to individual mental states or intentions. Emergence is one of the core features that makes social reality require its own ontological analysis.

Discussed in chapter-03 §V.i.

Further reading: Emergent Properties (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)