Conclusion

The conclusion recapitulates the thesis that has been defended in the book, reiterating the relevance of Boyle’s chemical philosophy for current debates in the philosophy of chemistry. The concluding remarks proceed to articulate the way in which Boyle’s emergentist conception of chemical qualities anticipates many of the positions currently taken by philosophers of chemistry, particularly with regard to the emergence and supervenience of chemical properties, epistemic and explanatory reductionism, and the autonomy of chemical explanations and of chemistry as a scientific discipline.

Boyle’s View of Chemical Properties as Dispositional, Relational, and Emergent Properties

This chapter presents original arguments for the view that Boyle regarded chemical properties as being dispositional, relational, and emergent properties. The chapter begins by discussing the hierarchy of properties in Boyle’s chemical ontology and Boyle’s notion of sensible properties as being dispositional and relational. Both of these sections are informed by Peter Anstey’s discussion of these topics. The chapter then moves beyond Anstey’s discussion by arguing for the view that Boyle regarded chemical properties as dispositional, relational, emergent, and supervenient properties. The chapter cites many examples from Boyle’s writings to demonstrate that he considered chemical properties to display the various features that are required for emergence, that is, supervenience, non-summative difference, and underdetermination. After this extensive discussion, the chapter concludes by establishing that Boyle also considered cosmical qualities as dispositional and relational, thus demonstrating the considerable philosophical sophistication of Boyle’s natural philosophy and of his entire experimental programme.

The Ontological Complexity of Boyle’s Corpuscularian Theory

This chapter gives a detailed account of Boyle’s chemical philosophy, placing special emphasis on his replacement of substantial form with the mechanistic notion of essential form as the source of chemical stability. For Boyle, essential form results from the structural arrangement of fundamental particles into aggregate corpuscles that account for a substance’s distinctive chemical properties. The chapter sets the background for Boyle’s theory of matter by first discussing his attack on the Scholastic notion of substantial form and on the Paracelsian principles of the tria prima. After this, the chapter focuses on Boyle’s distinctive mechanistic corpuscularianism, by highlighting the hierarchical aspects of this theory of composition and microstructure. The chapter then contrasts the views of Boyle and Locke regarding natural kinds and taxonomical classification and discusses the reduction to the pristine state, a key experiment used by Boyle to lend empirical support to the theory of microstructural essential form.

Chemical Philosophy vs. Rationalistic Mechanicism

This chapter focuses on the mechanical philosophy as it relates to early modern chemistry and chemical philosophy. The chapter begins by addressing the Cartesian rejection of Scholastic substantial forms, since this is one of the aspects of mechanicism that made it attractive to Boyle. After this, the chapter discusses the revival of Epicurean atomism and its reformation by Pierre Gassendi and other early modern atomists. The chapter then addresses the limitations of the Cartesian mechanical philosophy for chemistry and the tensions that existed between mechanicism and experimental natural philosophy, focusing especially on the views of the French Cartesians. Finally, the chapter then discusses Boyle’s own commitment to the mechanistic theory of matter. To this end, the chapter proposes to examine Boyle’s experimental research programme from a Lakatosian perspective, and suggests that the mechanical philosophy functioned both as a negative and as a positive heuristic within that research programme.

Chemical Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries

This chapter provides the philosophical background for the discussion of Robert Boyle’s chemical philosophy by highlighting the most relevant theories that either influenced Boyle or to which Boyle was responding. The chapter begins by addressing the vitalistic character of Renaissance alchemy. The chapter then discusses the Scholastic theory of substantial form, to which Boyle seeks to provide an alternative. After this, the chapter addresses the Paracelsian spagyria and theory of the tria prima, since these come under specific attack in Boyle’s writings. The doctrines of semina rerum and minima naturalia are then discussed as they relate to vitalistic corpuscularian theories of matter. Finally, the theories and work of early modern alchemists Daniel Sennert and Jan Baptista van Helmont are discussed in detail since the experiments of these alchemists had a significant impact on the Boyle’s experimental work.

The Relation between Parts and Wholes

This chapter discusses the theory of parts and wholes as it applies to Boyle’s concept of chymical atoms, from which chemical properties emerge as “novel” and supervenient properties. The chapter begins by arguing that Boyle’s chemistry is mereological by virtue of positing aggregate corpuscles as chemical wholes. To set the background for this discussion, the chapter examines the mereological distinction between continuous vs. contiguous integral wholes and between integral parts and essential parts of such wholes. The chapter then compares and contrasts the views of Aquinas, Abelard, and Boyle and argues that, contrary to claims made by other scholars, Boyle’s chemical mereology is neither similar nor comparable to the Abelardian theory. The chapter then analyzes the mereology of chymical atoms that is implied by the emergentist position being attributed to Boyle, closing with a suggestive analogy drawn by Boyle himself between the mereology chymical atoms and that of linguistic expressions.

Introduction

The Introduction explains how the author came to write on the topic of Robert Boyle’s chemical philosophy, specifically emphasizing the relevance of Boyle’s philosophical contributions, particularly as they anticipate current debates in the philosophy of chemistry regarding emergence, reductionism, and the autonomy of chemistry and of chemical explanations. The Introduction discusses the main thesis of the book and gives a short description of each chapter, explaining both the main topic addressed by each chapter, how the chapter addresses the topic, and how the topic ties in to the main thesis of the book.