Chemistry and Pharmacy: A Philosophical Inquiry into an Evolving Relationship

Abstract

There are several recent works in the history of science that treat the historical interactions (or even identity) between chemistry and pharmacy. This chapter presents the fact that the relative neglect of this philosophical topic does not arise from any lack of interesting questions raised by the subject, but rather its eccentricity with respect to mainstream philosophy of science as it has evolved in the twentieth century. Imagining a philosophy of science that would place the relationship between pharmacy and chemistry at its center would require imagining a history of the philosophy of science quite different from that shaped by thinkers like Rudolf Carnap, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn or even Ian Hacking. The focus is on the place of chemistry in drug discovery and invention. The chapter also reviews the issues raised by the historical exploration of the relationship between pharmacy and chemistry. It explores two different issues; the question of the institutional relationship between the two disciplines, and the evolution of the way chemists and pharmacists have conceived of and interacted with the material world.