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The Philosophy of Chemistry Reformulating Itself: Nalni Bhushan and Stuart Rosenfeld's Of Minds and Molecules: New Philosophical Perspectives on Chemistry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

S.H. Vollmer
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Abstract

Philosophers of chemistry, following the lead of physicists, have been slow to realize that molecular descriptions issuing from quantum mechanics in the absence of chemical theory are fatally flawed. In the wake of this realization, new topics have begun to unfold—including new metaphysical issues, new concerns about the philosophy of chemistry's place in the philosophy of science, and new accounts of how properties are observed, inferred, and presented. A recent collection of essays, Of Minds and Molecules: New Philosophical Perspectives on Chemistry edited by Nalini Bhushan and Stuart Rosenfeld, reveals what some of these new issues are and suggests new directions for the philosophy of chemistry.

Type
Book Reviews
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , April 2003 , pp. 383 - 390
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

Thanks to George Graham, Nancy Hall, Harold Kincaid, Vyavuka Masimasi, and an anonymous reviewer for many helpful suggestions.

References

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