Vanessa A. Seifert
Philosophy of Chemistry_ Philosophy of Science
Papers
1 / Chemical progress in the age of AI
Special Issue in Units, Symbols and Terminology, ed. by J. Frey
Pure and Applied Chemistry
In press
2/ Objectivity, kinds and the view from chemistry
Special Issue 'Science in Perspective: Essays on Pluralism, Pragmatism, and the Diversity of knowledge', ed. by Daian Bica, Paul Hasselkuß and Alexander Christian, Synthese Library
In press
3/ The Pursuitworthiness of Chemical Experimentation
Topical Collection: The Pursuitworthiness of Experiments Across the Sciences, ed. by E. Fischer & A. Fábregas-Tejeda
European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2026
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4/ Metaphysical emergence in chemistry: then and now
Special issue: Emergence. New Directions in Theoretical and Applied Metaphysics, ed. by E. Onnis & A. Velardi
Verifiche, accepted/in press
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5/The many laws in the periodic table
6/ Why water may not be a natural kind after all
Special issue: Current Controversies in Metaphysics of Science: Topics, Foundations, and Scope, ed. by B.Borge, C.López & G. Mettini
Análisis Filosófico, 2025
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7/ The value of laws in chemistry
Foundations of Chemistry, 2024
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8/ The Problem of Molecular structure Just is the Measurement Problem
Co-authored w/ Alexander Franklin
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2024
Awarded the BJPS Popper Prize!
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9/ The Chemical Bond is a Real Pattern
10/ The Strong Emergence of Molecular Structure
11/ The role of idealisations in describing an isolated molecule
12/ An alternative approach to unifying chemistry with quantum mechanics
Book Chapters
1 / Prediction and discovery in the search for chemical elements
In: The Perils and Promises of Prediction: Historical and Epistemological Perspectives, Arabatzis T., Arapostathis S., Katsaloulis I. & A. Tympas (eds.) Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science. Cham: Springer Nature. In press
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2 / Chemical causal relations across different levels of description
In: Laws and powers in the Metaphysics of Science. Ioannidis, S., Psillos, S. & Seifert V.A. (eds.) Routledge. In press
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3/ Reframing the Reduction-Emergence Debate around Chemistry
In: Bryant, A. and Yates, D., (eds.) Rethinking Emergence. Oxford University Press. In press
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4/ Philosophy of Chemistry: Concepts, ideas and open questions
In: Bilimlerin Felsefesi, ed. by M. Efe Ateş and Dinçer Çevik Translated into Turkish by E. Karababa
AKADEMİM YAYINLARI. In press
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5 / Do Molecules Have Structure in Isolation? How Models Can Provide the Answer
In: Lombardi, O., Martínez González, J.C., Fortin, S. (eds) Philosophical Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry. Synthese Library, vol 461. Springer, Cham. 2022
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6 / Referring to chemical elements and compounds: Colourless airs in late eighteenth century chemical practice
Co-authored w/ Geoffrey Blumenthal, James Ladyman
In: Scerri, Eric, and Elena Ghibaudi (eds), What Is A Chemical Element? A Collection of Essays by Chemists, Philosophers, Historians, and Educators, Oxford University Press. 2020
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Reviews
1 / Alexander Bird: Knowing Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 2025
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2 / In search of the elements
Philip Ball: The elements: a visual history of their discovery.
Metascience, 2023
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3 / Essays in the Philosophy of Chemistry
Ed. by Eric Scerri and Grant Fisher
International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 2016
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Encyclopaedia Entry
1 / Thinking about AI in Chemistry
co-authored w/ Emanuele Ratti
In Comprehensive Philosophy of Science, Elsevier
In press
2 / Reduction and Emergence in Chemistry
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019
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Doctoral Thesis
1 / A Philosophical Analysis of the Relation between Chemistry and Quantum Mechanics: The case of a single inert molecule
University of Bristol, 2019
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