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Emergentism and the Contingent Solubility of Salt
Author(s) -
Chan LokChi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
theoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.34
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1755-2567
pISSN - 0040-5825
DOI - 10.1111/theo.12160
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , constitution , salt (chemistry) , solubility , epistemology , philosophy , order (exchange) , chemistry , law , political science , economics , organic chemistry , biochemistry , finance
Alexander Bird offers a powerful argument showing that, regardless of whether necessitarianism or contingentism about laws is true, salt necessarily dissolves in water. The argument is that the same laws of nature that are necessary for the constitution of salt necessitate the solubility of salt. This article shows that Bird's argument faces a serious objection if the possibility of emergentism – in particular, C. D. Broad's account – is taken into consideration. The idea is (roughly) that some emergent laws in some possible worlds may disrupt the solubility of salt without disrupting its constitution.