Chemistry and physics: reduction or inter-theory links?

OLIMPIA LOMBARDI

Montevideo

Simposio; Summer Symposium 2013 of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry; 2013

Universidad de la República

In his recent book Reducing Chemistry to Physics. Limits, Models, Consequences, Hinne Hettema (2012) addresses the issue of the many-faced relationship between chemistry and physics from a reductive position. He devotes his work to defend this position on the basis of a “naturalized” Nagelian concept of reduction, which admits a number of modifications that significantly weaken the original schema. The book is a very fruitful contribution for those interested in understanding the subtleties and complexities underlying the loose and indirect links that interconnect chemistry, quantum chemistry and quantum mechanics. However, there are some considerations that deserve to be made for a balanced assessment of the work. I will critically review three kinds of issues stemming from Hettema´s argumentation: scientific, philosophical and methodological.