Introduction - Philosophy of Chemistry - page 3

s views
on chemistry, and the normative-descriptive dimension in philosophy of science.
There were articles on chemical modeling, ethics in chemistry, downward causa-
tion, the reduction of chemistry and chemical symmetry. More specific issues
included periodic systems of molecules, the computer-aided design of molecules
and instrumental techniques used in surface chemistry. Finally some more obvi-
ously philosophical papers dealt with natural kinds in chemistry, whether or not
water is H 2 O and the relationship between metaphysics and meta-chemistry.
By contrast the new volume does not repeat any of these topics with the possible
exception of the perennial topic of reduction of chemistry to quantum mechanics,
but this time by Hinne Hettema, one of the newcomers to the field who did not
appear in the earlier volume. Olimpia Lombardi writes about a related topic, that of
the ontological autonomy of the chemical world as mentioned above. Another
newcomer, Alexandru Manafu, proposes a novel approach to another related
issue, that of emergence in chemistry.
There follow three articles by authors who did appear in the earlier volume.
Joachim Schummer, the editor of the journal Hyle is the author of “The Method-
ological Pluralism of Chemistry and Its Philosophical Implications.” Joseph Earley,
turns from symmetry in chemistry to “Pragmatism and the Philosophy of Chemis-
try”. Paul Needham turns from ancient chemistry of Aristotle to a discussion of
“One Substance Or More?”
All the remaining authors did not appear in the earlier volume. Rom Harr ´ ,the
distinguished philosopher, and honorary president of the International Society for the
Philosophy of Chemistry, is the author of “Mereological Principles and Chemical
Affordances.” Farzad Mahootian, writes about metaphor in chemistry and takes up
another major theme in recent writing in the field, namely the philosophical nature of
the concept of an element. Marina Banchetti-Robino, is the author of many historical-
philosophical papers including some on Boyle. In the present volume she examines
the move from corpuscles to elements from the writing of van Helmont to Lavoisier.
Pieter Thyssen and Koen Binnemans take up another major theme, that of chemical
periodicity. Their article examines a particular aspect that proved especially difficult
for Mendeleev, namely the accommodation of the rare-earth elements into the
periodic table. Although Klaus Ruthenberg, cannot be said to be a newcomer to the
field he was inexplicably absent from the earlier volume. This time he was not able to
escape and has contributed a study on free radicals in chemistry and the question of
realism. Grant Fisher, with whom one of us is currently editing another collection of
papers, 5 writes on “Orbital Symmetry, Idealization, and the Kairetic Account of
Scientific Explanation.” Finally, Jean-Pierre Llored, himself the editor of a monu-
mental two-volume collection of the philosophy of chemistry 6 examines the meaning
of ceteris paribus clauses in chemistry.
Our hope is that within this volume, one will find a wide range of scholarship,
which represents the best of the philosophy of chemistry. We trust that in the

The previous volume included articles on Aristotelean chemistry, Kant

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5 Eric Scerri, Grant Fisher, forthcoming for Oxford University Press.
6 Llored ( 2013 ).