All Outputs (50)

Structure, essence and existence in chemistry (2023)
Journal Article
Hendry, R. F. (2023). Structure, essence and existence in chemistry. Ratio: An international journal of analytic philosophy, 36(4), 274-288. https://doi.org/10.1111/rati.12387

Philosophers have often debated the truth of microstructural essentialism about chemical substances: whether or not the structure of a chemical substance at the molecular scale is what makes it the substance it is. Oddly they have tended to pursue th... Read More about Structure, essence and existence in chemistry.

Trusting Atoms (2020)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. F. (2020). Trusting Atoms. In U. Zilioli (Ed.), Atomism in Philosophy: A History from Antiquity to the Present (470-488). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350107526

antiquity to the present day. This collection covers the richness of its history, starting with how the Ancient Greeks came to assume the existence of atoms and concluding with contemporary metaphysical debates about structure, time and reality. Focu... Read More about Trusting Atoms.

Structure, scale and emergence (2020)
Journal Article
Hendry, R. F. (2021). Structure, scale and emergence. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 85, 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2020.08.006

In this paper I consider the structures that chemists and physicists attribute at the molecular scale to substances and materials of various kinds, and how they relate to structures and processes at other scales. I argue that the structure of a subst... Read More about Structure, scale and emergence.

Elements and (first) principles in chemistry (2019)
Journal Article
Hendry, R. F. (2021). Elements and (first) principles in chemistry. Synthese, 198, 3391-3411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02312-8

The first principle of chemical composition is that elements are actually present in their compounds. It is a golden thread running through the history of compositional thinking in chemistry since before the chemical revolution. Opposed to this princ... Read More about Elements and (first) principles in chemistry.

Aspects of the concept of potentiality in chemistry (2018)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R., & Needham, P. (2018). Aspects of the concept of potentiality in chemistry. In K. Engelhard, & M. Quante (Eds.), Handbook of Potentiality. Springer Verlag

Mechanisms and reduction in organic chemistry (2017)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2017). Mechanisms and reduction in organic chemistry. In M. Massimi, J. Romeijn, & G. Schurz (Eds.), EPSA15 selected papers : the 5th conference of the European Philosophy of Science Association in Düsseldorf (111-124). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53730-6_15

The view that psychiatry should be elucidating the mechanisms behind mental phenomena is gaining momentum. This view, coupled with an intuition that such mechanisms must, by nature, be biological, has inspired the field to look to cognitive neuroscie... Read More about Mechanisms and reduction in organic chemistry.

Prospects for strong emergence in chemistry (2017)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2017). Prospects for strong emergence in chemistry. In F. Francesco Orilia, & M. Paoletti (Eds.), Philosophical and scientific perspectives on downward causation (146-163). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315638577-9

Structure as abstraction (2016)
Journal Article
Hendry, R. (2016). Structure as abstraction. Philosophy of Science, 83(5), 1070-1081. https://doi.org/10.1086/687939

In this article I argue that structure in chemistry is a creature of abstraction: attending selectively to structural similarities, we neglect differences. There are different ways to abstract, so abstraction is interest dependent. So is structure. F... Read More about Structure as abstraction.

Natural kinds in chemistry (2016)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2016). Natural kinds in chemistry. In G. Fisher, & E. Scerri (Eds.), Essays in the Philosophy of Chemistry (253-276). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190494599.003.0019

Chemical substances such as gold and water provide paradigm examples of natural kinds: They are so central to philosophical discussions on the topic that they often provide the grounds for quite general philosophical claims—in particular that natural... Read More about Natural kinds in chemistry.

Are chemical kinds natural kinds? (2015)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2015). Are chemical kinds natural kinds?. In U. Maki, I. Votsis, S. Ruphy, & G. Schurz (Eds.), Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science: EPSA13 Helsinki (251-261). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23015-3

Immanent Philosophy of X (2015)
Journal Article
Hendry, R. (2016). Immanent Philosophy of X. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 55, 36-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2015.08.008

In this paper I examine the relationship between historians, philosophers and sociologists of science, and indeed scientists themselves. I argue that (i) they co-habit a shared intellectual territory (science and its past); and (ii) they should be ab... Read More about Immanent Philosophy of X.

Three metaphysical issues in chemistry (2013)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2013). Three metaphysical issues in chemistry. In J. Llored (Ed.), Philosophy of Chemistry: Practices, Methodologies, and Concepts (522-539). Cambridge Scholars’ Press

Chemistry (2013)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2013). Chemistry. In M. Curd, & S. Psillos (Eds.), Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Science (586-596). (2nd ed.). Routledge

Kinetics, models and mechanism (2013)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2013). Kinetics, models and mechanism. In U. Gähde, S. Hartmann, & J. Henning Wolf (Eds.), Models, Simulations, and the Reduction of Complexity (221-227). De Gruyter

Chemical substances and the limits of pluralism (2012)
Journal Article
Hendry, R. (2012). Chemical substances and the limits of pluralism. Foundations of Chemistry, 14(1), 55-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-011-9145-6

Chemical Bond (2011)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2011). Chemical Bond. In R. Hendry, P. Needham, & A. Woody (Eds.), Philosophy of Chemistry (Volume 6). Elsevier

Charles Coulson (1910-1974) (2011)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2011). Charles Coulson (1910-1974). In R. Hendry, P. Needham, & A. Woody (Eds.), Philosophy of Chemistry (Volume 6). Elsevier

Philosophy of Chemistry (2011)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R., Weisberg, M., & Needham, P. (2011). Philosophy of Chemistry. In E. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Winter 2011 Edition). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University

Reduction, Emergence and Physicalism (2011)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2011). Reduction, Emergence and Physicalism. In R. Hendry, P. Needham, & A. Woody (Eds.), Philosophy of Chemistry (Volume 6). Elsevier

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) (2011)
Book Chapter
Hendry, R. (2011). Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794). In R. Hendry, P. Needham, A. Woody, E. I. 9780080930763, H. I. 9780444516756, I. N. Holland, & P. D. 1. N. 2011 (Eds.), Philosophy of Chemistry (Volume 6). Elsevier