Article ID: CBB504612717

Chemistry and Measurement: Some Philosophical Lessons (2021)

unapi

How do chemists assign numbers to chemicals properties? What do these numbers refer to? To answer these questions, we will first point out both the context-dependence of chemicals and the epistemic limitations of chemistry. We will then investigate how chemists use various procedures to stabilize measurements and how they use mixtures of samples as "references" in order to determine the amount of different chemicals in a sample. This study will enable us to query how it is possible for chemists to change one factor while holding others constant at each step of the measurement procedure. This part of our work which will lead us to query the meaning of the ceteris paribus clause and the very possibility of making holistic inferences in the domain of chemistry. To conclude, we will highlight how methodological pluralism developed by chemists makes it possible for a relational type of consistency to emerge.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB504612717/

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Authors & Contributors
Vihalemm, Rein
Shaw, Jamie
J. E. Wolff
Mets, Ave
Borg, George
Ling, Biying
Concepts
Philosophy of science
Methodology of science; scientific method
Pluralism (philosophy)
Chemistry
Measurement
Natural science
Time Periods
20th century, late
20th century, early
20th century
19th century
21st century
18th century
Places
London (England)
Scotland
Soviet Union
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