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The Conceptual Structure of the Chemical Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Paul Thagard
Paul Thagard*
Affiliation:
Cognitive Science Laboratory, Princeton University
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Abstract

This paper investigates the revolutionary conceptual changes that took place when the phlogiston theory of Stahl was replaced by the oxygen theory of Lavoisier. Using techniques drawn from artificial intelligence, it represents the crucial stages in Lavoisier's conceptual development from 1772 to 1789. It then sketches a computational theory of conceptual change to account for Lavoisier's discovery of the oxygen theory and for the replacement of the phlogiston theory.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , June 1990 , pp. 183 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

For valuable comments I am grateful to Susan Brison, Lindley Darden, Philip Johnson-Laird, Trevor Levere, Michael Mahoney, and two anonymous referees. Conversations with Nancy Nersessian, Gregory Nowak, and Michael Ranney have also been helpful.

References

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