A defense of placeholder essentialism

IF 1.8 3区 化学 Q1 HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Foundations of Chemistry Pub Date : 2023-08-30 DOI:10.1007/s10698-023-09478-7
Safia Bano
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Abstract

Kripke-Putnam argument for natural kind essentialism can be said to depend on placeholder essentialist intuitions. But some argue that such philosophical intuitions are merely preschooler cognitive biases which are not supported by scientific knowledge of natural kinds. Chemical substances, for instance, whether elements or compounds do not have such privileged set of underlying properties (‘same substance’ relation) which are present in all members of the kind and which provide necessary and sufficient condition for kind membership. In this paper, I argue that placeholder essentialism works for at least some of the scientific natural kinds especially for the basic chemical natural kind, i.e., element. I argue that the dual sense of the element (the basic substance and the simple substance) along with microstructuralism helps explain the essence of an element not only at the abstract level but also at the more concrete level. Based on this essentialist account of element, I conclude that placeholder essentialism is not completely without merit, and it fits nicely with at least some of our scientific natural kinds.

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对占位符本质主义的辩护
Kripke-Putnam关于自然类本质主义的论证可以说依赖于占位符本质主义直觉。但有些人认为,这种哲学直觉仅仅是学龄前儿童的认知偏见,没有自然科学知识的支持。例如,化学物质,无论是元素还是化合物,都没有这样一套特权的潜在属性(“同一物质”关系),这些属性存在于所有种类的成员中,并为类别成员提供必要和充分条件。在本文中,我认为占位符本质论至少适用于一些科学的自然种类,特别是对基本的化学自然种类,即元素。我认为,元素的双重意义(基本物质和简单物质)以及微观结构主义有助于解释元素的本质,不仅在抽象层面上,而且在更具体的层面上。基于这种对元素的本质主义的描述,我得出结论,占位符本质主义并非完全没有价值,它至少与我们的一些科学自然类型非常吻合。
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来源期刊
Foundations of Chemistry
Foundations of Chemistry HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE-
自引率
22.20%
发文量
35
期刊介绍: Foundations of Chemistry is an international journal which seeks to provide an interdisciplinary forum where chemists, biochemists, philosophers, historians, educators and sociologists with an interest in foundational issues can discuss conceptual and fundamental issues which relate to the `central science'' of chemistry. Such issues include the autonomous role of chemistry between physics and biology and the question of the reduction of chemistry to quantum mechanics. The journal will publish peer-reviewed academic articles on a wide range of subdisciplines, among others: chemical models, chemical language, metaphors, and theoretical terms; chemical evolution and artificial self-replication; industrial application, environmental concern, and the social and ethical aspects of chemistry''s professionalism; the nature of modeling and the role of instrumentation in chemistry; institutional studies and the nature of explanation in the chemical sciences; theoretical chemistry, molecular structure and chaos; the issue of realism; molecular biology, bio-inorganic chemistry; historical studies on ancient chemistry, medieval chemistry and alchemy; philosophical and historical articles; and material of a didactic nature relating to all topics in the chemical sciences. Foundations of Chemistry plans to feature special issues devoted to particular themes, and will contain book reviews and discussion notes. Audience: chemists, biochemists, philosophers, historians, chemical educators, sociologists, and other scientists with an interest in the foundational issues of science.
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