Conferencia invitada: An introduction to the philosophy of chemistry

OLIMPIA LOMBARDI

Lovaina

Conferencia; Invitación, Universidad KULeuven; 2013

Katholikie Universiteit Leuven

Under the assumption of the difference between the ?two cultures? (Charles Snow 1959), sciences and humanities are completely detached fields; so, the expression ?philosophy of science? sounds as an oxymoron. In this meeting, my proposal is to show that this is a groundless prejudice. By taking the case of chemistry, I will invite the audience to discuss some foundational topics expressed by very basic questions, as ?what is chemistry??, ?what is matter??, ?what is a chemical element??, or ´what is the relationship between macro-properties and micro-properties??. All of these are central topics of the contemporary philosophy of chemistry, an interdisciplinary field lying in the very intersection between the ?two cultures?.