Reduction for a Dappled World: Connecting Chemical and Physical Theories

Abstract

In this paper I argue that there are good reasons to construct the connection between theories of chemistry and theories of physics in terms of a Nagelian reductionist model. I use the machinery of belief revision to investigate the reduction relation in terms of a structuralist and conceptual space approach. An important aspect of the current paper is that it has the potential to unite reductive and non-reductive views on science.