Abstract
The many-faced relationship between chemistry and physics is one of the most discussed topics in the philosophy of chemistry. In his recent book Reducing Chemistry to Physics. Limits, Models, Consequences, Hinne Hettema (Reducing chemistry to physics. Limits, models, consequences, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, 2012) conceives this relationship as a reduction link, and devotes his work to defend this position on the basis of a “naturalized” concept of reduction. In the present paper I critically review three kinds of issues stemming from Hettema’s argumentation: philosophical, scientific and methodological.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Here I will not discuss the traditional distinction between theoretical terms and observational terms, a distinction that was challenged not only by the so-called “new philosophy of science” (at present not new anymore), but also by the structuralist view of scientific theories that he himself seems to advocate.
These criticisms will not be considered here but will be discussed in a future work.
Lombardi and Labarca (2006) also appeal to epistemic facts to find good arguments for supporting ontological claims, but in those epistemic facts they find support for ontological pluralism.
References
Alexander, S.: Space, Time and Deity. Macmillan, London (1920)
Ballentine, L.: Quantum Mechanics: A Modern Development. World Scientific, Singapore (1998)
Balzer, W., Moulines, C.U., Sneed, J.D.: An Architectonic for Science. The Structuralist Program. Reidel, Dordrecht (1987)
Broad, C.D.: The Mind and its Place in Nature. Kegan Paul, New York (1925)
Cartwright, N.: The Dappled World: A Study of the Boundaries of Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999)
Chang, H.: Is Water H2O? Evidence, Pluralism and Realism, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Springer, Dordrecht (2012)
Cunningham, B.: The reemergence of ‘emergence’. Philos. Sci. 68, S62–S75 (2001)
Darden, L., Maull, N.: Interfield theories. Philos. Sci. 44, 43–64 (1977)
El-Hani, C.N.: On the reality of emergents. Principia 6, 51–87 (2002)
Emmeche, C.: Autopoietic systems, replicators, and the search for a meaningful biologic definition of life. Ult. Real. Mean. 20, 244–264 (1997)
Hacking, I.: Historical Ontology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (2002)
Hempel, C.: The theoretician’s dilemma. In: Feigl, H., Scriven, M., Maxwell, G. (eds.) Concepts, Theories, and the Mind-Body Problem, Volume 2 of Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (1958)
Hendry, R.F.: The physicists, the chemists, and the pragmatics of explanation. Philos. Sci. 71, 1048–1059 (2004)
Hendry, R.F.: Two conceptions of the chemical bond. Philos. Sci. 75, 909–920 (2008)
Hendry, R.F.: Ontological reduction and molecular structure. Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 41, 183–191 (2010)
Hettema, H.: Reducing Chemistry to Physics. Limits, Models, Consequences. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen (2012)
Hughes, R.I.G.: The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1989)
Kim, J.: Making sense of emergence. Philos. Stud. 95, 3–36 (1999)
Kochen, S., Specker, E.: The problem of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. J. Math. Mech. 17, 59–87 (1967)
Labarca, M., Lombardi, O.: Why orbitals do not exist? Found. Chem. 12, 147–157 (2010)
Ladyman, J., Ross, D., Spurrett, D., Collier, J.: Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2007)
Lakatos, I.: The methodology of scientific research programmes. In: Lakatos, I., Musgrave, A. (eds.) Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1970)
Langton, R.: Kantian Humility: Our Ignorance of Things in Themselves. Clarendon Press, Oxford (1998)
Lastiri, M.: Una Reconstrucción Estructuralista de la Mecánica Cuántica. Doctoral Dissertation. Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires (2011)
Lastiri, M.: Aplicaciones intencionales de la mecánica cuántica. Agora. Papeles de Filosofía 31, 271–285 (2012)
LePoidevin, R.: Missing elements and missing premises: a combinatorial argument for the reduction of chemistry. British J. Philos. Sci. 56, 117–134 (2005)
Lloyd Morgan, C.: Emergent Evolution. Williams and Norgate, London (1923)
Lombardi, O., Castagnino, M.: A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics. Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 39, 380–443 (2008)
Lombardi, O., Castagnino, M.: Matters are not so clear on the physical side. Found. Chem. 12, 159–166 (2010)
Lombardi, O., Castagnino, M., Ardenghi, J.S.: The modal-Hamiltonian interpretation and the Galilean covariance of quantum mechanics. Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 41, 93–103 (2010)
Lombardi, O., Dieks, D.: Modal interpretations of quantum mechanics. In: Zalta, E.N. (ed.) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition). http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/qm-modal/ (2012)
Lombardi, O., Labarca, M.: The ontological autonomy of the chemical world. Found. Chem. 7, 125–148 (2005)
Lombardi, O., Labarca, M.: The ontological autonomy of the chemical world: a response to Needham. Found. Chem. 8, 81–92 (2006)
Nagel, E.: The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London (1961)
Needham, P.: Ontological reduction: a comment on Lombardi and Labarca. Found. Chem. 8, 73–80 (2006)
Needham, P.: Nagel’s analysis of reduction: comments in defense as well as critique. Stud. Hist. Philos. Mod. Phys. 41, 163–170 (2010)
Philström, S.: The re-emergence of the emergence debate. Principia 6, 133–181 (2002)
Primas, H.: Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics and Reductionism. Springer, Berlin (1981)
Putnam, H.: Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1981)
Ruthenberg, K.: Paneth, Kant, and the philosophy of chemistry. Found. Chem. 11, 79–91 (2009)
Ruthenberg, K.: Das Kant’sche Echo in Paneths Philosophie der Chemie. Kant-Studien 101, 465–479 (2010)
Schaffer, J.: Truth and fundamentality: on Merricks’s truth and ontology. Philos. Books 49, 302–316 (2008)
Strevens, M.: Depth: An Account of Scientific Explanation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (2008)
Torretti, R.: Scientific realism and scientific practice. In: Agazzi, E., Pauri, M. (eds.) The Reality of the Unobservable: Observability, Unobservability and their Impact on the Issue of Scientific Realism. Kluwer, Dordrecht (2000)
Wimsatt, W.C.: Re-engineering Philosophy for Limited Beings: Piecewise Approximations To Reality. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (2007)
Wolley, R.G.: Quantum theory and molecular structure. Adv. Phys. 25, 27–52 (1976)
Wolley, R.G.: Must a molecule have a shape? J. Am. Chem. Soc. 100, 1073–1078 (1978)
Wolley, R.G.: Is there a quantum definition of a molecule? J. Math. Chem. 23, 3–12 (1998)
Acknowledgments
I want to thank all the participants of the Summer Symposium 2013 of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, for the stimulating discussions, and in particular to Lucía Lewowicz, the organizer of the event, for bringing the philosophy of chemistry to the Rio de la Plata. I want also express my special acknowledgement to Hinne Hettema for his good disposition in the debate, and his kind help in the language review of my text.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lombardi, O. Linking chemistry with physics: arguments and counterarguments. Found Chem 16, 181–192 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-013-9197-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-013-9197-x