The Chemical Bond is a Real Pattern

Seifert, Vanessa A.

doi:10.1017/psa.2022.17

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 40 publications

(95 reference statements)

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“…Given that the available accounts on unity are under-explored in the philosophy of chemistry, the view which I present is only one way to support unity and reflects my own views on how to understand it with respect to chemistry. Specifically, I focus on the chemical bond and argue that bonds are related to their physical constituents in the sense that they are real patterns of interactions among subatomic particles (Seifert 2022b). This understanding of chemical bonds offers a way of defending their reality while maintaining the ideal of unity.…”

Section: Case VIII Chemical Bondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemistry's Metaphysics

Seifert

2023

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The place of chemistry in the metaphysics of science may be viewed as peripheral compared to physics and biology. However, a metaphysics of science that disregards chemistry would be incomplete and ill-informed. This Element establishes this claim by showing how key metaphysical issues are informed by drawing on chemistry. 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. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

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Section: Case VIII Chemical Bondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemistry's Metaphysics

Seifert

2023

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A Commentary on Robin Hendry’s Views on Molecular Structure, Emergence and Chemical Bonding

Scerri

2023

History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences

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In this article I examine several related views expressed by Robin Hendry concerning molecular structure, emergence and chemical bonding. There is a long-standing problem in the philosophy of chemistry arising from the fact that molecular structure cannot be strictly derived from quantum mechanics. Two or more compounds which share a molecular formula, but which differ with respect to their structures, have identical Hamiltonian operators within the quantum mechanical formalism. As a consequence, the properties of all such isomers yield precisely the same calculated quantities such as their energies, dipole moments etc. The only means through which the difference between the isomers can be recovered is to build their structures into the quantum mechanical calculations, something that is carried out by the application of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Consequently, it has been argued by many authors that molecular structure is written in ‘by hand’ rather than derived. Robin Hendry is one such author, but he goes a great deal further by proposing that this situation implies the existence of emergence and downward causation. In the current article I argue that there are alternative explanations which render emergence and downward causation redundant. Such an alternative lies in the notion of quantum decoherence and the appeal to work in the foundations of physics, which posits that the various isomers exist as a superposition until their wavefunctions are collapsed either by observation or by interacting with their environment.Hendry also alludes to a debate among chemists as to whether chemical bonds are real or not, in the sense of directional connections between two or more nuclei in any given molecule. I reject this view and propose that the structural and energetic views of chemical bonding, that have been discussed by some philosophers of chemistry including Hendry, do not refer to any essential ontological differences. I agree that chemists view bonding in a more realistic fashion and may consider bonds to be in some senses real, while physicists may consider bonding in more abstract energetic terms. However, I do not believe that such differences in scientific practice and attitudes should be considered to offer a window as to the ontological status of bonding or whether bonding is real. Finally, I discuss the kinetic energy school of chemical bonding which would seem to challenge any notion of bonds as directional entities, since bonding is no longer regarded as being primarily due to the build-up of electron density between nuclei.

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The Chemical Bond is a Real Pattern

Cited by 2 publications

References 40 publications

Chemistry's Metaphysics

Chemistry's Metaphysics

A Commentary on Robin Hendry’s Views on Molecular Structure, Emergence and Chemical Bonding

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