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The Many Laws of the Periodic Table

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2025

Vanessa A. Seifert Open the ORCID record for Vanessa A. Seifert [Opens in a new window]
Vanessa A. Seifert*
Affiliation:
University of Athens, History and Philosophy of Science, Athens, Greece
*
Email: seifertvan@phs.uoa.gr
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Abstract

There are many—not just one—periodic laws in chemistry. These laws correspond to nonaccidental regularity relations about physical and chemical properties of (sets of) chemical elements. I support this by showing how these regularity relations can be understood from the perspective of a philosophical analysis of laws. Specifically, I show that these relations instantiate standard features associated with laws; they can be spelled out in terms of two standard accounts of laws; and they can coherently figure in debates about the reality of laws as plausible candidates of ceteris paribus laws.

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Contributed Paper
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Philosophy of Science , First View , pp. 1 - 10
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Philosophy of Science Association

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