Autonomy of chemistry

J. Schummer, Physical chemistry neither fish nor fowl in The Autonomy of Chemistry, ed. P. Janich and N. Psarros, Konigshausen Neumann, Wurzburg, 1998, pp. 135-148. 

Theodore Porter, The Promotion of Mining and the Advancement of Science The Chemical Revolution of Mineralogy, Annals of Science 38, 1981, 543-570 Rachel Laudan, From Mineralogy to Geology (University of Chicago Press, 1987) Evan M. Melhado, Mineralogy and the Autonomy of Chemistry around 1800, Lychnos, 1990, 229-261. 

Melhado, Evan M. Mineralogy and the Autonomy of Chemistry around 1800. Lychnos 1990, 229-261. 

The topic of the first conference (November 1993) was Philosophical Perspectives of Chemistry the topic of the second conference (November 1994) was the Language of Chemistry. The topic of the third conference (September 1996) was the Autonomy of Chemistry in Relation to the Other Natural Sciences. 

Paneth s contribution was thus to uphold the autonomy of chemistry and to resist following the reductive path of the physicist, which would have destroyed the periodic system and would eventually have turned chemistry into elementary particle physics. In fact, Paneth was recommending a form of naive realism whereby isotopes of the same element could be regarded as being identical in chemistry, even though we know that they are not strictly identical from the more reductive perspective of physics. 

The Paneth episode would seem to be another example of the chemist s need to adopt an intermediate position, which, while acknowledging the findings of the reducing science of physics, upholds the autonomy of chemistry and recognizes where to stop ... 

Schummer, J. 1998a. The Chemical Core of Chemistry I A Conceptual Approach. Hyle 4 129—162. Schummer, J. 1998b. Physical Chemistry Neither Fish nor Fowl In Janich P. and Psaros, N. (eds.). The Autonomy of Chemistry. Wurzburg Konigshausen Neumann, 135-148. 

Even more recently, in 1994, the quantum chemist Bader, echoing Kant, but explicitly adding a reductionistic picture, wrote 15 A scientific discipline becomes exact, in the sense that predictions become possible, as soon as the classification represents the physics that underlies an observation. And at a philosophy of chemistry conference in 1996,16 Frenking (1998,106-107), a theoretical chemist, discussing the autonomy of chemistry, says ... 

Frenking, G. 1998. Heretical Thoughts of a Theoretical Chemist About the Autonomy of Chemistry as a Science in the Past and the Present. In Janich, P. and Psarros, N. (eds.), The Autonomy of Chemistry 3rd Erlenmeyer-Colloquy for the Philosophy of Chemistry. Wuizbuig Konigshausen Neumann, 103-108. 

How did chemists greet the new tool made suddenly available to them towards the mid-1950s Their obvious alacrity was tinged with ambivalence. Chemists of the old school did not always embrace the new situation that they were dependent on young upstarts, called NMR specialists . They retrained themselves. They had to. In addition, they had to contend with the shadow cast by physics, which obscured the cherished notion of the autonomy of chemistry, of its non-reducibility to physics. The mixed feeling expressed itself in a catch phrase of those times, physical methods . 

It is important to note at this point that promoting the teaching of reduction is not meant to imply that chemistry s autonomy is jeopardised. In other words, the choice of focus on reduction is not meant to undermine the significance of chemical knowledge. To the contrary, the introduction of the theme of reduction in chemistry education is perceived to highlight for students chemistry s distinct status within the sciences, just as philosophers arguments have utilised anti-reductionist arguments in an effort to build a case for the autonomy of chemistry. 

Independently of the particular criticisms directed by Mulder to our defense of the ontological autonomy of chemistry, it is interesting to wonder why the author finds it necessary to direct his efforts at arguing for the continuity between chemistry and physics. And this leads us to the issue of the following section. 

Vihalemm R (2005) Chemistry and a theoretical model of science on the occasion of a recent debate with the Christies. Found Chem 7 171-182 Vihalemm R (2011) The autonomy of chemistry old and new problems. Found Chem 13 97-107 Wilson M (1989) John Barman s a primer on determinism. Philos Sci 56 502-532 Woolley RG (1978) Must a molecule have a shape J Am Chem Soc 100 1073-1078... 

The ontological autonomy of chemistry is tied with the failure of (at least some versions of) reductionism. Indeed, if all chemical laws are obtainable from quantum-mechanical laws, then how could the belief in the autonomy of this discipline be maintained Since emergence makes possible the existence of sui generis chemical properties, laws, and explanations, it is natural to think that emergence can justify the ontological autonomy of chemistry. 

This would require a defense of the ontological autonomy of chemistry. Fot an example of such a defense, see Lombardi and Lambarca (2005). 

The growing interest in the philosophy of chemistry, and specifically in the autonomy of chemistry, makes holding such views increasingly more plausible. E.R. Scerri, L. McIntyre,The Case for Philosophy of Chemistry, Synthese, 111,213-232,1997. 

Janich, R, and N. Psarros, eds. 1998. The autonomy of chemistry. Wurzburg Kortigshausen Neumann. 

---