Foundations of Chemistry 14 (3):245-274 (2012)
Abstract |
This paper first queries what type of concept of emergence, if any, could be connected with the different chemical activities subsumed under the label ‘quantum chemistry’. In line with Roald Hoffmann, we propose a ‘rotation to research laboratory’ in order to point out how practitioners hold a molecular whole, its parts, and the surroundings together within their various methods when exploring chemical transformation. We then identify some requisite contents that a concept of emergence must incorporate in order to be coherent from the standpoint of the scientific practices involved. In this respect, we finally propose a relational form of emergence which pays attention to the constitutive role of the modes of intervention and to the co-definition of the levels of organization. No metaphysical distinction between the higher and basic levels of organization is supposed, but only a plurality of modes of access. Moreover, these modes of access are not construed as mere ways of revealing intrinsic patterns of organization but, on the contrary, are considered to be active elements on which the constitution of those patterns depends. What is at stake in this paper is therefore not an ontological form of emergence but an agnostic one which fits what chemists do in their daily work
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Keywords | Emergence Inter-level relations Anti-foundationalism Mereology Quantum chemistry Molecular wholes Parts Surroundings |
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DOI | 10.1007/s10698-012-9163-z |
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References found in this work BETA
Reductive Explanation: A Functional Account.William C. Wimsatt - 1972 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1974:671-710.
Contextual Emergence in the Description of Properties.Robert C. Bishop & Harald Atmanspacher - 2006 - Foundations of Physics 36 (12):1753-1777.
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Citations of this work BETA
Two-step emergence: the quantum theory of atoms in molecules as a bridge between quantum mechanics and molecular chemistry.Chérif F. Matta, Olimpia Lombardi & Jesús Jaimes Arriaga - 2020 - Foundations of Chemistry 22 (1):107-129.
A Novel Approach to Emergence in Chemistry.Alexandru Manafu - 2015 - In Eric Scerri & L. McIntyre (eds.), Philosophy of Chemistry. Growth of a New Discipline. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science. Volume 306. pp. 39-55.
The Role of Idealisations in Describing an Isolated Molecule.Vanessa A. Seifert - 2020 - Foundations of Chemistry 22 (1):15-29.
Connecting the Philosophy of Chemistry, Green Chemistry, and Moral Philosophy.Jean-Pierre Llored & Stéphane Sarrade - 2016 - Foundations of Chemistry 18 (2):125-152.
How Much Philosophy in the Philosophy of Chemistry?Alexandru Manafu - 2014 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 45 (1):33-44.
View all 8 citations / Add more citations
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