Philosophy Of Chemistry

Synthesis of a New Discipline

  • Davis Baird
  • Eric Scerri
  • Lee McIntyre

Part of the Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science book series (BSPS, volume 242)

Table of contents

  1. Front Matter
    Pages i-vii
  2. Chemistry and the Philosophy of Chemistry

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 1-1
    2. Davis Baird, Eric Scerri, Lee McIntyre
      Pages 3-18
    3. Joachim Schummer
      Pages 19-39
  3. Chemistry and the History and Philosophy of Science

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 41-41
  4. Chemistry and Current Philosophy of Science

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 93-93
    2. Otto Theodor Benfey
      Pages 95-117
    3. Jeffrey Kovac
      Pages 157-169
  5. Chemistry and Physics

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 171-171
    2. Robin Findlay Hendry
      Pages 173-189
    3. G. K. Vemulapalli
      Pages 191-204
  6. Chemical Theory and Foundational Questions

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 205-205
    2. Ray Hefferlin
      Pages 221-243
    3. Jack R. Woodyard
      Pages 245-269
  7. Chemistry and its Tools of Representation

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 271-271
    2. Ann Johnson
      Pages 273-291
    3. Daniel Rothbart, John Schreifels
      Pages 309-324
  8. Chemistry and Ontology

    1. Front Matter
      Pages 325-325
    2. Nalini Bhushan
      Pages 327-336
    3. Michael Weisberg
      Pages 337-345
    4. Alfred Nordmann
      Pages 347-362
  9. Back Matter
    Pages 363-374

About this book


This comprehensive volume marks a new standard in scholarship in the still emerging field of the philosophy of chemistry. With selections drawn from a wide range of scholarly disciplines, philosophers, chemists, and historians of science here converge to ask some of the most fundamental questions about the relationship between philosophy and chemistry. What can chemistry teach us about longstanding disputes in the philosophy of science over such issues as reductionism, autonomy, and supervenience? And what new issues may chemistry bring to the forefront now that it has joined physics and biology as a serious topic for philosophical reflection? This newest addition to the prestigious Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science series marks the true arrival of philosophy of chemistry within the corpus of the philosophy of science.


Chemical reaction chemistry ethics philosophy of science science

Editors and affiliations

  • Davis Baird
    • 1
  • Eric Scerri
    • 2
  • Lee McIntyre
    • 3
  1. 1.University of South CarolinaUSA
  2. 2.University of California at Los AngelesLos Angeles
  3. 3.Boston UniversityBoston

Bibliographic information