Missing Elements and Missing Premises
A Combinatorial Argument for the Ontological Reduction of Chemistry
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8397131 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robin Le Poidevin (0000-0002-7185-9440, University of Leeds, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 117-134 |
| Publication date | 2005-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/phisci/axi106 |
| OpenAlex | W2155988247 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 9 |
Does chemistry reduce to physics? If this means ‘Can we derive the laws of chemistry from the laws of physics?’, recent discussions suggest that the answer is ‘no’. But sup posing that kind of reduction—‘epistemological reduction’—to be impossible, the thesis of ontological reduction may still be true: that chemical properties are determined by more fundamental properties. However, even this thesis is threatened by some objections to the physicalist programme in the philosophy of mind, objections that generalize to the chemical case. Two objections are discussed: that physicalism is vacuous, and that nothing grounds the asymmetry of dependence which reductionism requires. Although it might seem rather surprising that the philosophy of chemistry is affected by shock waves from debates in the philosophy of mind, these objections show that there is an argumentative gap between, on the one hand, the theoretical connection linking chemical properties with properties at the sub-atomic level, and, on the other, the philosophical thesis of ontological reduction. The aim of this paper is to identify the missing premises (among them a theory of physical possibility) that would bridge this gap. 1. Introduction: missing elements and the mystery of discreteness 2. The refutation of physicalism 3. A combinatorial theory of physical possibilia 4. Combinatorialism and the Bohr model 5. Objections 6. The missing premises and a disanalogy with mind
Argument (complex analysis) · Epistemology · Metaphysics · Philosophy of physics · Physicalism · Physics · Reductionism · Theoretical physics · Chemistry · History and advancements in chemistry · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Reasons to doubt microstructural essentialism about chemical elements
Fyzikalismus a status zákonů speciálních věd
Reduction and Emergence in Chemistry—Two Recent Approaches
Electronegativity as a new case for emergence and a new problem for reductionism
The irreducibility of chemistry to Everettian quantum mechanics
A new definition of reduction between two scientific theories
Nagel's analysis of reduction
Emergence and reduction in chemistry
How to minimize ontological commitments
Two Approaches to Reduction
Le Poidevin on the Reduction of Chemistry
Smaller than a Breadbox
Matter, Structure, and Change
| Citations per year | 0.68 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2007 - 2026 (20) |
| Highly cited | No |