One of the most plausible and widely discussed examples of strong emergence is molecular structure. The only detailed account of it, which has been very influential, is due to Robin Hendry and is formulated in terms of downward causation. This paper explains Hendry’s account of the strong emergence of molecular structure and argues that it is coherent only if one assumes a diachronic reflexive notion of downward causation. However, in the context of this notion of downward causation, the strong emergence of molecular structure faces three challenges that have not been met and which have so far remained unnoticed. First, the putative empirical evidence presented for the strong emergence of molecular structure equally undermines supervenience, which is one of the main tenets of strong emergence. Secondly, it is ambiguous how the assumption of determinate nuclear positions is invoked for the support of strong emergence, as the role of this assumption in Hendry’s argument can be interpreted in more than one way. Lastly, there are understandings of causation which render the postulation of a downward causal relation between a molecule’s structure and its quantum mechanical entities, untenable.

中文翻译：

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分子结构的强大出现

分子结构是最可能出现且讨论最广泛的强力出现实例之一。它的唯一详细说明非常有影响力，这要归功于Robin Hendry，它是根据向下因果关系制定的。本文解释了亨德利对分子结构的强烈出现的解释，并认为只有当人们假设向下因果关系是历时性的反身概念时，它才是连贯的。然而，在这种“向下因果关系”的概念中，分子结构的强势出现面临着三个尚未解决的挑战，而这些挑战至今尚未引起人们的注意。首先，提出的关于分子结构强烈出现的经验证据同样破坏了优越性，这是强烈出现的主要宗旨之一。其次，为支持强势崛起而援引确定性核立场的假设是模棱两可的，因为这种假设在亨德利的论点中的作用可以用多种方式来解释。最后，对因果关系的理解使分子的结构与其量子力学实体之间的向下因果关系的假设变得站不住脚。