Philosophy of Chemistry

In our first ever post, Vanessa Seifert asked whether philosophy of chemistry is really a thing – as people often tend to react surprised when one mentions this field. Philosophy and chemistry can be seen as an odd combination, and even in general philosophy of science, reference to this topic is often left out.

However, as Vanessa’s initial essay and our subsequent posts have shown, philosophy of chemistry is very much a thing; a fascinatingly curious thing about which many questions are can be asked.

What is the nature of chemical substances? How should we understand chemical models and chemical kinds? How have chemical concepts and views of matter evolved over time? What has philosophy of chemistry contributed so far and what are the ways in which it can be further improved?

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On this page, we highlight the different questions around philosophy of chemistry.