International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry Session: It is generally accepted that the philosophy of science of the twentieth century was modeled in the image of theoretical physics, a perspective that influenced the way classic topics such as realism, reduction, explanation, and modeling have been approached. More recently the philosophy of biology began to challenge this situation. Even more recently, namely in the 1990s, the emergence of the philosophy of chemistry has enhanced this challenge and has widened the approach to those topics. The consideration of chemical theories and practices reveals that the traditional conception of science was partial and limited. An appeal to chemistry provides valuable new perspectives to our attempts to understand the nature of science.
Sterlings 3 PSA 2022 office@philsci.orgInternational Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry Session: It is generally accepted that the philosophy of science of the twentieth century was modeled in the image of theoretical physics, a perspective that influenced the way classic topics such as realism, reduction, explanation, and modeling have been approached. More recently the philosophy of biology began to challenge this situation. Even more recently, namely in the 1990s, the emergence of the philosophy of chemistry has enhanced this challenge and has widened the approach to those topics. The consideration of chemical theories and practices reveals that the traditional conception of science was partial and limited. An appeal to chemistry provides valuable new perspectives to our attempts to understand the nature of science.