Philosophical analysis

Woody, A. (1995). The explanatory power of our models A philosophical analysis with some implications for science education. In F. Finley, D. Allchin, D. Rhees, S. Fifields (Eds.),Proceeding of the third international history, philosophy, and science teaching conference (Vol. 2. pp. 1295-1304). Minneapolis University of Minnesota. 

ZACHAR, Peter Psychological Concepts and Biological Psychiatry. A philosophical analysis. 2000. 

Lavoisier, in his Reflections on Phlogiston published in 1786, points out that in Baum s view of the phlogiston theory, the combination of free fire and the earthy element can be combined in an infinity of proportions, and that there exists in consequence an infinity of intermediate states between the free fire and the phlogiston properly speaking. Lavoisier clearly recognizes the error of this view of continuous chemical combination, but he does not elaborate or generalize on this point. In his Traiti of 1789, he focuses chiefly on the empirically based distinction of the neutral salts, whose composition is expressed in terms of the operationally defined simple bodies. But in general he avoids the philosophical analysis. 

It is fair to also ask whether a philosophy of chemistry should matter to chemists. Might it affect the directions taken (or not taken) by individual chemists or at least the judgments they make Would it enrich the practice of the science in other ways Can a philosophical analysis of a current problem/practice in chemistry help us see where we might be misled ... 

The laws of physics have been one of the major concerns of philosophers of science. The laws of chemistry have been largely neglected. A philosophical analysis of the laws of physics by Molnar (1969) produced a set of criteria for a "law statement." In this analysis, a law statement had to be a proposition that (1) was universally quantified, (2) was true, (3) was contingent, and (4) contained only nonlocal empirical predicates. There are problems with this set of criteria, and nobody, including Molnar, seems to want to accept them at face value. 

We do not propose to set out a ready-to-use philosophical analysis from the outset but, on the contrary, to identify what a philosophical enquiry should integrate into its premises in order to investigate the meaning of the ceteris paribus clause in chemistry. 

This kind of philosophical analysis of the evil of modem society was certainly furthered by the fear of bombs. When atomic bombs brought world war II to an end 50 years ago they boosted a simmering fear of world doom. In fact, annihilation of the world by some kind of atomic chain reaction has been a literary theme since the begiiming of this century v(dien Ernest Rutherford s first explanations of radioactivity were misunderstood [3]. A most disturbing atomic weapons tale came from H. G. Wells already in 1913 [4]. It was dedicated to Frederik Soddy, co-worker of Rutherford, and was directly inspired by Soddy s writings on radium. Literary cormections can also be shovm to medieval alchemy and related fears and hopes. 

Compare J. Angelo Corlett, Terrorism A Philosophical Analysis (Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004). 

Not surprisingly, before the recent advent of philosophy of chemistry, philosophers of science devoted little attention to the periodic system, just as they neglected the whole of chemistry. There are some interesting exceptions, however. As long ago as 1958 Kultgen produced a philosophical analysis of Mendeleev s ideas and the way in which he established his version of the periodic system [Kultgen, 1958]. 

Kitchener, K. S. (1986). Teaching applied ethics in counselor education An integration of psychological processes and philosophical analysis. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64, 306-310. 

Musei-arkhiv D. I. Mendeleeva, Arkhiv [D. I. Mendeleevs Museum-Archive, Archive], 44—1—A—6. See B. M. Kedrov, 1959. Filosofskii analizpervykh trudovD. I. Mendeleeva o periodicheskom zakone (1869-1871) [Philosophical Analysis of Mendeleevs Work on Periodic Law (1869-1871)] (Moscow Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1959), 243-244. For the text of this letter, one can find its partial Enghsh translation in Gordin (note 8), 44. 

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