1 of 1- RomanJoe
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What is the role of the subatomic
A user posted a thread awhile back about reductionism and forms. I can't recall where that discussion went and don't feel like going through all the posts at the moment. However, this brings up an interesting question. As I'm becoming more acquainted with essentialism and hylemorphism I'm beginning to wonder what role does the subatomic serve? Can we even say a substance has a subatomic structure if it only exists virtually? I find this fascinating, figuring out the role of microscopic structures within the substance as a whole and all of its higher level features.
*Grammar nazi* the thread title should have a question mark.
Last edited by RomanJoe (2/28/2018 10:59 pm)
- Camoden
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Re: What is the role of the subatomic
It gives us some knowledge of the formal behaviors of a thing. It just is not reducible to them. It also helps us know the similarities that things have by sharing certain constituent building blocks. This is particularly important in Chemistry I imagine, although I cannot say I am a Chemist.
- RomanJoe
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Re: What is the role of the subatomic
Camoden wrote:
It gives us some knowledge of the formal behaviors of a thing. It just is not reducible to them. It also helps us know the similarities that things have by sharing certain constituent building blocks. This is particularly important in Chemistry I imagine, although I cannot say I am a Chemist.
Do you think the subatomic is just a mathematical structure we abstract from the wholeness of a substance? I know the reductionist contra the essentialist will claim just the opposite, that the subatomic is the substance.
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