Perspective philosophique sur les relations entre structure, propriétés et fonctions

Authors

  • Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent

Abstract

For teaching purposes, of chemistry in particular, it is important to emphasize the relationships between structure, properties and functions in order to make the behaviour and reactions of individual substances intelligible, thus enabling the students to better memorize and master the load of knowledge they have to acquire about of individual substances. Rather than trying to provide a historical survey of the introduction of the notion of structure in chemistry, this brief article makes use of history to disentangle the preassumptions of the causal sequence «structure > properties > functions». These preassumptions usually remain implicit because they are integral part of the rational and explanatory approach, which is typical of science. By questioning what is usually taken for granted may in turn open up new perspectives.

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Published

2017-03-02

Issue

No. 21 (2015)

Section

Monografia / Aprenentatge de conceptes i models

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