Stereochemistry studies molecules and molecular transformations by way of the classical model of the molecule, which envisages molecules as composed of atoms that are linked together by chemical bonds. The underlying hypothesis of this model is that molecules are entities with definite shape and structure, and behave like mechanical objects in the world of possible experience. Such a view of molecules raises questions about the legitimacy of this science because neither shape nor structure is taken any longer as a solid (...) scaffold on which to construct philosophical or scientific arguments. Thus, questions to be addressed in this paper are whether or not it is allowed to treat molecular events, which are dynamic in nature and subject to quantum mechanical principles, by way of the classical model; whether or not the classical model is proved true by the physical measurements of molecules; and whether or not the nature of enantiomers is explicable by the classical model. An analytical tool kit for the philosophy of chemistry recently introduced by Harr. (shrink)

This book reconstructs, using the tools of propositional logic, thirty-six of the central arguments from Immanuel Kant's landmark work, the Critique of Pure Reason. Although there are many excellent companions to and commentaries on the Critique, none of these books straightforwardly reconstructs so many of Kant's arguments premise by premise, using the tools of propositional logic.