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- Five metaphysical topics are investigated: natural kinds, scientific realism, reduction, laws and causation.
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In this context, some metaphysical questions about chemistry are: 1. Do chemical concepts – such as ‘substance’ and ‘element’ – correspond to natural kinds? 2. Do chemical bonds exist, and what is their precise nature? 3. Are atoms, molecules and their chemical properties just the result of quantum physical entities and their ...
- What Is Metaphysics of Science?
- Metaphysics of Science in The 20th (and Early 21st) Century
- Why Do We Need Metaphysics of Science?
- Sample Topics in Metaphysics of Science
- The Methodology of Metaphysics of Science
Metaphysics of Science is a subdiscipline of philosophy concerned with philosophical questions that arise at the intersection of science, metaphysics, and the philosophy of science. The term “Metaphysics of Science,” which combines the names of these disciplines, is of 20th century coinage. In order to fully understand what Metaphysics of Science i...
a. The Logical Empiricist Critique of Metaphysics
Of the many historical roots of modern philosophy of science, Logical Empiricism (often interchangeably called “Logical Positivism”) stands out. The Logical Empiricists and their sympathizers (especially Rudolf Carnap, Moritz Schlick, Otto Neurath, Hans Reichenbach, Alfred Ayer, and Carl Gustav Hempel) were the progenitors of a new kind of philosophy (that directly relates to the philosophical work of Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, which later came to be known as “a...
b. The Return to Metaphysics
The failure of Logical Empiricism to cope with some of the key concepts of science eventually led to the development of Metaphysics of Science. Philosophers realized that if concepts such as law of nature and necessity could not be eliminated by reduction to observation terms, it must then be legitimate to examine them thoroughly, by whatever means seem fit. The most likely candidate to fulfill this task is metaphysics. (For an overview of methods commonly applied in Metaphysics of Science, s...
c. Naturalized Metaphysics and Inductive Metaphysics
In the early 21stcentury, some philosophers argued for a naturalization of metaphysics. Their argument typically rests on the fact that the sciences appear to surpass metaphysics in many respects. The sciences, they claim, have a shared stock of accepted theories, a pool of respected methods and institutionalized standards, and they have predictive and technological successes to show for themselves. In contrast, there is long lasting dissent over positions and methods in metaphysics that rare...
In section 1it was said that Metaphysics of Science examines the key concepts of science. But why do philosophers even bother to argue over issues in Metaphysics of Science? Is it not relatively clear what the basic concepts in science are and what they mean? Surely scientists know very well what they mean to say when they talk about the solubility...
As Metaphysics of Science is the study of the key concepts of science, its subject matter depends directly on what the sciences study and which concepts they employ. Because there are many different branches of science, there are also many potential topics for metaphysicians to discuss. It is impossible to name them all in a survey article, much le...
Although Metaphysics of Science is concerned with the key concepts that figure prominently in science, its methods are not predominately those of the sciences. Apart from referencing scientific results and practices, Metaphysics of Science has a number of argumentative tools at its disposal that do not usually play an explicit role in scientific me...
Sep 10, 2007 · 1. The Word ‘Metaphysics’ and the Concept of Metaphysics. 2. The Problems of Metaphysics: the “Old” Metaphysics. 2.1 Being As Such, First Causes, Unchanging Things. 2.2 Categories of Being and Universals. 2.3 Substance. 3. The Problems of Metaphysics: the “New” Metaphysics. 3.1 Modality. 3.2 Space and Time. 3.3 Persistence and Constitution.
In this context, some metaphysical questions about chemistry are: 1. Do chemical concepts – such as ‘substance’ and ‘element’–correspond to natural kinds? 2. Do chemical bonds exist, and what is their precise nature? 3. Are atoms, molecules and their chemical properties just the result of quan-tum physical entities and their ...
Five metaphysical topics are investigated: natural kinds, scientific realism, reduction, laws and causation. These topics are spelled out from the perspective of ten chemical case studies, each of which illuminates the novel ways that metaphysics of science can be informed by chemistry.
The present article will appeal to two interrelated metaphysical views con-cerning the chemical elements. The first such view is what may be called metaphysical in the naïve, or literal, sense of the elements as being beyond observation. The second metaphysical view considers the elements as the fundamental entities or natural kinds of chemistry.
Some basic problems in the history of metaphysics are the problem of universal s—i.e., the problem of the nature of universals and their relation to so-called particulars; the existence of God; the mind-body problem; and the problem of the nature of material, or external, objects.
