The case for the philosophy of chemistry (original) (raw)
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The Case for Philosophy of Chemistry
Synthese, 1997
The philosophy of chemistry has been sadly neglected by most contempory literature in the philosophy of science. This paper argues that this neglect has been unfortunate and that there is much to be learned from paying greater philosophical attention to the set of issues defined by the philosophy of chemistry. The potential contribution of this field to such current topics as reduction, laws, explanation, and supervenience is explored, as are possible applications of insights gained by such study to the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of social science.
French Studies In The Philosophy Of Science, 2009
The notion of "philosophy of chemistry" challenges the singular in the phrase "philosophy of science", which is the standard term for the discipline in the English language. This linguistic peculiarity has undoubtedly favored the tacit equation science = physics that has characterized mainstream philosophy of science during the course of the twentieth-century. The hegemony of physics has had profound consequences that have subsequently become identifiable. One of them is the increasing gap between philosophical reflection and science in action. As Joachim Schummer has pointed out: "Had those philosophers without prejudice gone into the laboratories, then they would have stumbled on chemistry almost everywhere" 1. For there is a striking contrast between the philosophers' neglect of chemistry and the quantitative data, which show that chemistry is by far the largest scientific discipline in terms of the number of publications indexed by the major journals of abstracts. Thus, philosophers have virtually ignored the major part of scientific activity choosing instead to focus on theoretical physics, which seemed more appropriate in light of the "linguistic turn". The situation is slightly different in the European tradition. The plural "philosophie des sciences" which has prevailed in the French language may be due to Auguste Comte's longstanding influence, since he strongly advocated a regional epistemology. The result is that chemistry has not been totally neglected. As I have argued elsewhere, chemistry helped shape the French tradition, especially in what can be labeled its "historical turn" and its focus on theories of matter 2. Whether French philosophers interacted more with active scientists than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts
The Gulf between chemistry and philosophy of chemistry, then and now
Structural Chemistry, 2017
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Philosophy as The Foundation of Science in The Development of Chemistry
2021
Abstract: Philosophy As The Foundation Of Science In The Development Of Chemistry. This article aims to present an explanation of philosophy as the basis of science in the development of chemistry. This article uses the literature review method. The library sources used in this article are journals and books on the development of chemistry. The results of the research show that (1) Philosophy serves as the basis from which philosophy is obtained the truth which becomes the basis or foundation of chemistry. By learning something related to chemistry through knowledge (philosophy) is a step to get true and objective knowledge about chemistry. (2) Chemists and scientists agree on the basis of the development of chemistry, namely to obtain answers to the what and why questions about matter in nature, each of which will produce facts and theoretical knowledge about matter whose truth can be explained by mathematical logic. Finally, (3) The study of chemistry in its development includes a...
Philosophy of chemistry: An emerging field with implications for chemistry education
Science & Education, 2001
Traditional applications of history and philosophy of science in chemistry education have concentrated on the teaching and learning of "history of chemistry". This paper considers the recent emergence of "philosophy of chemistry" as a distinct field and explores the implications of philosophy of chemistry for chemistry education in the context of teaching and learning chemical models. This paper calls for preventing the mutually exclusive development of chemistry education and philosophy of chemistry, and argues that research in chemistry education should strive to learn from the mistakes that resulted when early developments in science education were made separate from advances in philosophy of science. Contains 54 references.
Needs Philosophy of Chemistry1
2014
By the 1960s many (perhaps most) philosophers had adopted ‘physicalism ’ ─ the view that physical causes fully account for mental activities. However, controversy persists about what count as ‘physical causes’. ‘Reductive ’ physicalists recognize only microphysical (elementary-particle-level) causality. Many (perhaps most) physicalists are ‘non-reductive ’ ─ they hold that entities considered by other (‘special’) sciences have causal powers. Philosophy of chemistry can help resolve main issues in philosophy of mind in three ways: developing an extended mereology applicable to chemical combination, testing whether ‘singularities ’ prevent reduction of chemistry to microphysics, and demonstrating ‘downward causation ’ in complex networks of chemical reactions. Keywords: Physicalism, philosophy of chemistry, mind, mereology, structuralism, emergence, realism, downward causation.
Normative and descriptive philosophy of science and the role of chemistry
Philosophy Of Chemistry, 2006
Since the demise of Logical Positivism the purely normative approach to philosophy of science has been increasingly challenged. Many philosophers of science now consider themselves as naturalists and it becomes a matter of which particular variety they are willing to support. As is well known, one of the central issues in the debate over naturalism concerns whether philosophy offers a privileged standpoint from which to study the nature of science, or whether science is best studied by studying science itself. 1