Towards a Philosophy of Chemical Reactivity Through the Molecule in Atoms-of Concept

Autor: J.J. Quirante, Saturnino Calvo-Losada
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Axiomathes. 32:1-41
ISSN: 1572-8390
1122-1151
DOI: 10.1007/s10516-020-09497-5
Popis: A novel non-classical mereological concept (Molecule in Atoms-of) built up by blending the Metaphysics of Xavier Zubiri and the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) of R. F. W. Bader is proposed. It is argued that this philosophical concept is necessary to properly account for what happens in a chemical reaction. From the topology of the gradient of the laplacian of the electronic charge density, $$\nabla \nabla^{2} \rho ( \varvec{r} )$$ within the QTAIM framework, different “atomic graphs” (corresponding to different hybridizations) are found for each atom depending on the molecular context, reflecting how the whole molecule affects each atom. In this way, the whole molecular system imposes certain geometry onto each atom, and every atom exhibits different ontological modality. On the Metaphysical side, for X. Zubiri real things (denoted as “de Suyo”) are system of different notes (adventitious, constitutional and essential). The physical essence is the subsystem of essential notes (notes-of) with a coherence unity. Every note is grounded on the essence. The unity of the system is present somehow in every note-of beforehand, and every essential note-of turns towards the other (“respectivity”). The essence determines the position of each note within the system, and hence is the grounding for modality of the notes. By conflating both “theories” and taking the atoms as essential notes, we propose the concept of “Molecule in atoms-of” or “atoms-of in Molecules”. Within the course of a chemical reaction the atoms-of modified their “of” as required by the new molecular unity being formed, and eventually change their modality. The validity to the Zubiri’s statements, is attained by evaluating necessity (□) and possibility (◊) in a set-up of finite accessible “possible worlds”.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: