Skip to main content
Log in

Philosophy of Chemistry and Limits of Complexity

  • Published:
Foundations of Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The problem of complexity is considered within the framework of concepts developed in recent studies in the philosophy of chemistry. According to previously expressed ideas about diminishing interactions (Vančik, 1999), as well as on the basis of the concept of levels of complexity, we speculate here that the complexity should approach its final limit. On the other hand, dynamical complexity may grow ad infinitum, and relativistic effects can only limit it. Impacts of these considerations on a possible change of actual paradigm of cosmology, especially on the anthropic principle, are also discussed.

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

Access this article

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • D. Babić, 2000, personal communication.

  • B. Carter, Confrontation of Cosmological Theories with Observation. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  • J.E. Earley, Sr., Modes of Chemical Becoming, Hyle 4: 106, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • J.E. Earley, Sr. Varieties of Chemical Closure. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, 1999, p. 122.

  • J. Horgan, The End of Science. New York: Broadway Books, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • P. van Inwagen, Material Beings. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • W.B. Jensen, Logic, History, and the Chemistry Textbook. Does Chemistry Have a Logical Structure? J. Chem. Ed. 75: 679, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. Jenson and W.L. Jorgensen, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119: 10846, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Kauffman, At Home in the Universe. Oxford University Press, 1995; Penguin Books, 1996.

  • K. Lorenz, Die Rückseite des Spiegels. Versuch einer Naturgeschichte menschlichen Erkentnis. München, Zürich: Piper & Co. Verlag, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • K. Mainzer, Thinking in Complexity. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Malnar, K. Humski and O. Kronja, Hammett r+ Values as Kinetic Evidence for the Concerted Biomimetic Bicyclization Mechanism, J. Org. Chem. 63: 3041, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L. McIntyre, The Emergence of the Philosophy of Chemistry, Found. of Chem. 1: 57, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H. Primas, Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics and Reductionism. Berlin: Springer, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • P.J. Plath, Jenseits des Moleküls. Braunschweig, Wiesbaden: Vieweg & Sohn, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Del Re, Ontological Status of Molecular Structure, Hyle 4: 81, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Robertson, A.J. Sinclair and D. Philp, Minimal Self-Replicating Systems, Chem. Soc. Rev. 29: 141, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E.R. Scerri, It All Depends What You Mean by Reduction, in K. Mainzer, A. Müller and W.G. Salzer (Eds.), From Simplicity to Complexity. Vieweg Verlag, 1994.

  • E.R. Scerri and L. McIntyre, The Case of the Philosophy of Chemistry, Synthese 111: 213, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H.A. Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd edn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Vančik, Opus Magnum: An Outline for the Philosophy of Chemistry, Found. of Chem. 1: 241, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory. London: Vintage Books, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vančik, H. Philosophy of Chemistry and Limits of Complexity. Foundations of Chemistry 5, 237–247 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025656727195

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025656727195

Keywords

Navigation