Preface
Serious and systematic investigations on the philosophy of chemistry became more
intensive during the last 30 years, especially after the appearance of the two scientific journals dedicated to this field, HYLE and Foundations of Chemistry. Since I
was involved in these investigations with some publications, I have initiated the
new course History and philosophy of chemistry for undergraduate students at the
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry. Experience in
the education of students in such a new field was crystalized in the collection
of themes which cover the main questions of philosophy of chemistry in the historical context. In this book, I offer my lectures, 13 of them, in somehow condensed
form. First version of this book, which is the official university textbook of the
University of Zagreb, has been published in Croatian in 2016 (Croatian title:
Dvanaest predavanja iz filozofije kemije).
Philosophy of chemistry is considered not only as a branch of philosophy of
science but also as a special branch of chemistry. As I will try to explain in the
following chapters-lectures, chemistry, as well as other sciences, are strongly
context-dependent. This context comprises historical and cultural circumstances
under which particular discoveries or concepts have appeared. Under the cultural
circumstances, the most important are the philosophical thoughts that have fashioned science and art. But, as philosophy influences science, science reshapes also
philosophy. One of the most important roles of the philosophy of chemistry is to
investigate the philosophical and metaphysical concepts that emerge from chemistry. Gradual structuring of chemistry through history has opened and extended a
series of philosophical questions, especially about the scientific methods, truth,
identity, logics, analogy, etc. The question of the autonomy of science, the position
of chemistry between physics and biology, is common to almost all the lectures.
The autonomy of scientific disciplines and their hierarchical classifications are
discussed within the theory of general complexity. The question about the
demarcation between science and pseudo-science, as well as the problem of verification or rejection of scientific concepts and theories, is present through all the
chapters.
In the first lecture-chapter, the scientific epistemology is discussed in relation to
the classification of complexity levels and to the problem of holism and reductionism. The discussion is especially focused on the problem of the reduction of
v
Serious and systematic investigations on the philosophy of chemistry became more
intensive during the last 30 years, especially after the appearance of the two scientific journals dedicated to this field, HYLE and Foundations of Chemistry. Since I
was involved in these investigations with some publications, I have initiated the
new course History and philosophy of chemistry for undergraduate students at the
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry. Experience in
the education of students in such a new field was crystalized in the collection
of themes which cover the main questions of philosophy of chemistry in the historical context. In this book, I offer my lectures, 13 of them, in somehow condensed
form. First version of this book, which is the official university textbook of the
University of Zagreb, has been published in Croatian in 2016 (Croatian title:
Dvanaest predavanja iz filozofije kemije).
Philosophy of chemistry is considered not only as a branch of philosophy of
science but also as a special branch of chemistry. As I will try to explain in the
following chapters-lectures, chemistry, as well as other sciences, are strongly
context-dependent. This context comprises historical and cultural circumstances
under which particular discoveries or concepts have appeared. Under the cultural
circumstances, the most important are the philosophical thoughts that have fashioned science and art. But, as philosophy influences science, science reshapes also
philosophy. One of the most important roles of the philosophy of chemistry is to
investigate the philosophical and metaphysical concepts that emerge from chemistry. Gradual structuring of chemistry through history has opened and extended a
series of philosophical questions, especially about the scientific methods, truth,
identity, logics, analogy, etc. The question of the autonomy of science, the position
of chemistry between physics and biology, is common to almost all the lectures.
The autonomy of scientific disciplines and their hierarchical classifications are
discussed within the theory of general complexity. The question about the
demarcation between science and pseudo-science, as well as the problem of verification or rejection of scientific concepts and theories, is present through all the
chapters.
In the first lecture-chapter, the scientific epistemology is discussed in relation to
the classification of complexity levels and to the problem of holism and reductionism. The discussion is especially focused on the problem of the reduction of
v