UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES FILOSÓFICAS

Organized by Jesús Alberto Jaimes Arriaga and Ana Rosa Pérez Ransanz

Description

In his well-known book, Theodore L. Brown identifies chemistry as the central science. This is because it occupies a very special place within the natural sciences, situated at the intersection of quantum physics and the life sciences. Chemistry produces knowledge about entities such as substances, molecules, elements, structures, reactions, etc., which have an ontological status that remains philosophically open and controversial. For this reason, questions such as: What kind of entities are chemical substances? Do chemical entities exist independently of the theoretical frameworks that describe them? How are models and representations articulated with chemical reality? Is an autonomous chemical ontology, irreducible to physics, possible? These are questions of great relevance to the philosophy of chemistry.

This workshop aims to bring together researchers working on topics related to the philosophy of chemistry, especially those concerning the ontology of chemistry and its intersection with metaphysical, epistemological, and phenomenological issues. The idea is to foster the exchange of ideas and encourage debate around these topics. The meeting is based on the recognition that the ontology of chemistry constitutes its own philosophical field, with problems, methods, and debates that cannot be resolved solely from the philosophy of physics or the philosophy of biology.

The workshop is organized around three main thematic axes:

1. Metaphysical Intersections

This axis examines debates on the nature of entities postulated by chemical theories, on the problem of the identity and individuation of entities at both the molecular and macroscopic levels, and on questions about what kind of relationships (causal or non- causal) exist between chemical entities.

2. Epistemological Intersections

This axis addresses, in general terms, the epistemological status of chemical entities. It explores how chemists gain epistemological access to the entities postulated by their theories, or, if they lack such access, how they justify the existence of these entities. It also addresses the problem of underdetermination: if multiple ontologies are compatible with the same empirical evidence, is it possible to choose between one or another based on epistemology?

3. Phenomenological Intersections

This axis addresses access to chemical entities from the chemist's perception and experience in the laboratory. In this sense, phenomenology treats chemical entities as they "appear" in intentional experience, that is, how they manifest directly in consciousness without relying on preconceived theories. Thus, it seeks contributions from the phenomenological tradition to the philosophical understanding of chemical practice.

The workshop will take place on March 16th-18th, 2027 in videoconference format and the formal venue of the event will be the Institute of Philosophical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

_{Organized by
Jesús Alberto Jaimes Arriaga 
Ana Rosa Pérez Ransanz 
ja.jaimes@filosoficas.unam.mx}