Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How Much Philosophy in the Philosophy of Chemistry?

  • Article
  • Published:
Journal for General Philosophy of Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper aims to show that there is a lot of philosophy in the philosophy of chemistry—not only in the problems and questions specific to chemistry, which this science brings up in philosophical discussions, but also in the topics of wider interest like reductionism and emergence, for which chemistry proves to be an ideal case study. The fact that chemical entities and properties are amenable to a quantitative understanding, to measurement and experiment to a greater extent than those in psychology or biology, makes chemistry an ideal case study for those interested in reductionism and emergence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This doesn’t mean that chemistry doesn’t pose difficult problems of its own, for example the problem of chemical substance, matter or material, element, bond, etc. But it does mean that chemistry is free of one of the most vexing problems of contemporary philosophy, and this is a good thing.

  2. Chemistry is the first “special science” according to the layer-cake model of the sciences introduced by the classical article of Putnam and Oppenheim (1958).

  3. Microstructuralism is the view that chemical kinds can be individuated solely in terms of their chemical microstructure (Bird and Tobin 2008).

  4. The existence of emergence and downward causation would have a great impact on the problem of free will, which is relevant to philosophy of mind and ethics.

References

  • Batterman, R. W. (2000). Multiple realizability and universality. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 51, 115–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batterman, R. W. (2002). The devil in the details: asymptotic reasoning in explanation, reduction, and emergence. Oxford studies in philosophy of science. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedau, M. (2008). Downward causation and autonomy in weak emergence. In A. Bedau & P. Humphreys (Eds.), Emergence. Contemporary readings in philosophy and science. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bensaude-Vincent, B., & Simon, J. (2008). Chemistry—The impure science. Covent Garden: Imperial College Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bickle, J. (1998). Psychoneural reduction: the new wave. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bird, A., & Tobin, E. (2008). Natural kinds. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.) Stanford encylopedia of philosophy (Winter 2012 edition). http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/natural-kinds

  • Block, N., & Fodor, J. (1981). What psychological states are not. Representations (pp. 79–99). Cambridge: MIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broad, C. D. (1925). The mind and its place in nature. New York: Harcourt, Brace & company, inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunge, M. (1982). Is chemistry a branch of physics? Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 13(2), 209–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, D. (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, D. (1996). The conscious mind: In search of a fundamental theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, H. (2012). Is Water H 2 O? Evidence, Pluralism and Realism. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dizadji-Bahmani, F., Frigg, R., & Hartmann, S. (2010). Who’s afraid of Nagelian reduction? Erkenntnis, 73(3), 393–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esfeld, M., & Sachse, C. (2011). Conservative reductionism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fodor, J. A. (1974). Special sciences (Or: the disunity of science as a working hypothesis). Synthese, 28(2), 97–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. (1986). The Pauli exclusion principle and the foundations of chemistry. Synthese, 69, 273–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendry, R. (2003). Chemistry and the completeness of physics. In A. Rojszczak, J. Cachro, & G. Kurczewski (Eds.), Philosophical dimensions of logic and science (pp. 165–178). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hendry, R. F. (2006). Is there downward causation in chemistry? In D. Baird, E. Scerri, & L. McIntyre (Eds.), Philosophy of chemistry. Synthesis of a new discipline (pp. 173–189). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendry, R. (2008a). Two conceptions of the chemical bond. Philosophy of Science, 75(5), 909–920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendry, R. (2008b). Microstructuralism: Problems and prospects. In Klaus Ruthenberg & Jaap van Brakel (Eds.), Stuff: The nature of chemical substances (pp. 107–120). Würzburg: Königshausen und von Neumann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, P. (1997). How properties emerge. Philosophy of Science, 64(1), 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemeny, J. G., & Oppenheim, P. (1956). On reduction. Philosophical Studies, 7, 6–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. (2006). Emergence: Core ideas and issues. Synthese, 151(3), 547–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kincaid, H. (1990). Molecular biology and the unity of science. Philosophy of Science, 57(4), 575–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitcher, P. (1984). 1953 and all that. A tale of two sciences. The Philosophical Review, 93(3), 335–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitcher, P. (1999). The hegemony of molecular biology. Biology and Philosophy, 14, 195–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llored, J.-P. (2012). Emergence and quantum chemistry. Foundations of Chemistry, 14(3), 245–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Löwdin, P.-O. (1969). Some comments on the periodic system of the elements. International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 3, 331–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luisi, P. L. (2002). Emergence in chemistry: chemistry as the embodiment of emergence. Foundations of Chemistry, 4, 183–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marras, A. (2005). Consciousness and reduction. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 56, 335–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, L. (2007). Emergence and reduction in chemistry: Ontological or epistemological concepts? Synthese, 155, 337–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, B. (2008). The rise and fall of British emergentism. In A. Bedau & P. Humphreys (Eds.), Emergence. Contemporary readings in philosophy and science. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mill, J. S. (1882). A system of logic, ratiocinative and inductive: Being a connected view of the principles of evidence and the methods of scientific investigation. New York: Harper and Brothers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, E. (1961). The structure of science: Problems in the logic of scientific explanation. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace & World.

    Google Scholar 

  • Needham, P. (2000). What is water? Analysis, 60, 13–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Needham, P. (2002). The discovery that water is H2O. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 16, 205–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Needham, P. (2005). Ontological reduction: A comment on Lombardi and Labarca. Foundations of Chemistry, 8, 73–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Needham, P. (2008a). Is water a mixture? Bridging the distinction between physical and chemical properties. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 39, 66–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Needham, P. (2008b). A critique of the Kripke/Putnam conception of water. In Klaus Ruthenberg & Jaap van Brakel (Eds.), Stuff: The nature of chemical substances (pp. 93–105). Würzburg: Königshausen und von Neumann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ney, A. (2008). Reductionism. The internet encyclopedia of philosophy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/red-ism/.

  • Ostrovsky, V. (2003). Physical explanation of the periodic table. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 988(1), 182–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrovsky, V. (2005). On recent discussion concerning quantum justification of the periodic table of the elements. Foundations of Chemistry, 7(3), 235–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papineau, D. (1990). Why supervenience? Analysis, 50, 66–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Post, H. (1974). Innaugural lecture. London: London University, Chelsea College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Primas, H. (1983). Chemistry, quantum mechanics, and reductionism: perspectives in theoretical chemistry (2nd corr ed.). Berlin, New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Primas, H. (1991). Reductionism: Palaver without precedent. In E. Agazzi (Ed.), The problems of reductionism in science (pp. 161–172). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Primas, H. (2004). Can we reduce chemistry to physics? The World and I, 19(12). http://www.worldandi.com.

  • Putnam, H. (1975a). Minds and machines. In Mind, language, and reality, vol 2. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

  • Putnam, H. (1975b). The nature of mental states. In Mind, language, and reality, vol 2. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

  • Putnam, H., & Oppenheim, P. (1958). The unity of science as a working hypothesis. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 2, 3–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, R. C. (1979). Functionalism and reductionism. Philosophy of Science, 46(4), 533–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E. (1991). The electronic configuration model, quantum mechanics and reduction. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 42, 309–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E. (1994). Has chemistry been at least approximately reduced to quantum mechanics? PSA, 1, 160–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E. (1995). The exclusion principle, chemistry and hidden variables. Synthese, 102, 165–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E. (2004). Just how ab initio is ab initio quantum chemistry? Foundations of Chemistry, 6, 93–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E. R. (2009). The dual sense of the term “element”, attempts to derive the madelung rule, and the optimal form of the periodic table, if any. International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 109(5), 959–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E. (2012). Top-down causation regarding the chemistry-physics interface: a sceptical view. Interface Focus, 2, 20–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerri, E., & McIntyre, L. (1997). The case for the philosophy of chemistry. Synthese, 111, 213–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seck, C. (2012). Metaphysics within chemical physics: The case of ab initio molecular dynamics. Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 43, 361–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, L. A. (2000). Multiple realizations. The Journal of Philosophy, 97(12), 635–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sober, E. (1999). The multiple realizability argument against reductionism. Philosophy of Science, 66(4), 542–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Brakel, J. (2000). Philosophy of Chemistry. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinhold, F., & Bent, H. A. (2007). News from the periodic table: An introduction to “periodicity symbols, tables, and models for higher-order valency and donor-acceptor kinships”. Journal of Chemical Education, 84(7), 1145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolley, R. G. (1978). Must a molecule have a shape? Journal of the American Chemical Society, 100(4), 1073–1078.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank two anonymous referees of JGPS for useful comments and suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 75006, Paris, France

    Alexandru Manafu

Authors
  1. Alexandru Manafu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandru Manafu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Manafu, A. How Much Philosophy in the Philosophy of Chemistry?. J Gen Philos Sci 45 (Suppl 1), 33–44 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10838-014-9267-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10838-014-9267-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation