It is time for a chemical time

ALAN HEIBLUM; JUAN CAMILO MARTÍNEZ GONZÁLEZ

Montevideo

Congreso; ISPC-2013 Summer Symposium, International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry; 2013

International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry y Universidad de la República

The aim of the present text is to discuss the idea of time in chemistry. We will distance ourselves from the usual position (Benfey, 1963), which examines the temporal terms of the physical laws applied to chemical systems. On the contrary, the target of our inquiry will be the experimental core of chemistry. The problem is that the experimental core is prima facie timeless. Nevertheless, a second examination allows us to suggest that it is possible to postulate a purely chemical time. According to a common conception of time and stuff, new substances arise without the disappearance of others. This intuition corresponds to the image of a standard periodic table as a cumulative list, as well as to the continuing synthesis of new substances in the practice of the experimental core. In order to develop this intuition, one could summon a demon, a direct relative of Laplace?s demon, with an infinite capacity to list the existing substances. It is possible to show that for this demon the universe has a temporal arrow pointing on the direction of the increasing number of substances and mixtures. However, such a demon seems to present serious difficulties worth to be discussed, among others: what exactly are the items of the list (particles, elements, "substances")? How does the demon distinguish between pure substances and mixtures? What role does the purification process play in his temporal view?