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The Paradoxes of Chemical Classification: Why `water is H2O' is Not an Identity Statement

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Abstract

A puzzle for identity statements using massnouns, central to the expression of chemicaltypes, arises if one accepts that both `Wateris H2O' and `Ice is H2O' are identitystatements, since they jointly entail that`Water is ice'. The puzzle is resolved if itcan be shown that the `is' of such statementsis not the `is' of identity.

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Authors
  1. Joseph Simonian
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Simonian, J. The Paradoxes of Chemical Classification: Why `water is H2O' is Not an Identity Statement. Foundations of Chemistry 7, 49–56 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FOCH.0000042887.03317.11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FOCH.0000042887.03317.11

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