Papers by Ronei Clécio Mocellin
Cahiers François Viète, May 1, 2020
For a Dialogue Between the Teaching of Chemistry and the History and Philosophy of Chemistry: the Case of the Concept of ‘Chemical Element’
Substantia, Mar 4, 2024
Substantia: an International Journal of History of Chemistry, 2024
The concept of ‘element’ is one of the most important concepts in the chemical sciences. It plays... more The concept of ‘element’ is one of the most important concepts in the chemical sciences. It plays a key role to explain the chemical reactions and the basis of the periodic table. It is also central to the modern philosophy of chemistry because of its role in discussions about the nature of the periodic system and natural classes. In the field of chemistry teaching it is a paradigmatic case of alternative conceptions. In general, two definitions of ‘chemical element’ coexist. The first, due to Lavoisier, conceptualizes an ‘element’ in a macroscopic ontology and the second, usually considered the ‘modern’ definition, conceptualizes an element in an ontology of particle. Some authors state that it is time to consider the former conceptualization as merely ‘historical’ and focus teaching on the basis of the most recent definition. The present paper aims to address this problem from a pluralist perspective by highlighting the pedagogical relevance of incorporating historical-philosophical analyses in the explanation of scientific concepts.
Transversal, Nov 28, 2022
In this article, we are interested in analyzing the biography of metallic titanium (Ti) and its d... more In this article, we are interested in analyzing the biography of metallic titanium (Ti) and its dioxide (TiO2) from a historical, philosophical, and sociological point of view of some of its modes of existence. This biography does not suggest any anthropomorphization of material objects, rather, it is about an attempt to reconcile the reality of science in the present with its history to understand the particularities of materials in contemporary societies. We intend to investigate some properties and characteristics of the "natural" modes of existence and the new properties and implications when these materials gain a new mode of existence, the nanostructured one. This mode of existence refers to a new way of organizing scientific knowledge, an inflection which has been called technoscience, more concerned with what an object will become in the future, then with what it essentially is. In this sense, the proper chemical identity of these substances is one among other modes of existence, into this mode of existence, one must add others which can approach its biological, geological, cultural, technological, economic or geopolitical behavior.
Cadernos PET-Filosofia
A proposta de organização deste número especial do Cadernos PET Filosofia surgiu da demanda de es... more A proposta de organização deste número especial do Cadernos PET Filosofia surgiu da demanda de estudantes do Curso de Filosofia da Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) para que fosse ofertada uma disciplina optativa tratando da emergência da noção de Tecnociência no cenário filosófico contemporâneo. Essa demanda foi parcialmente contemplada, com a inclusão do tema nos planos de ensino das disciplinas ofertadas durante o ano de 2021 pelos professores Ronei Clécio Mocellin e Débora Aymoré, iniciativa esta posteriormente replicada no contexto das atividades acadêmicas realizadas nos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem da Universidade do Estado do Amapá (UEAP).
Química Nova, 2006
THE NEWTONIAN CHEMISTRY. The work of Newton exerted a profound influence on the development of sc... more THE NEWTONIAN CHEMISTRY. The work of Newton exerted a profound influence on the development of science. In chemistry this newtonian influence was present in Query 31 of Newton's Optics. However, the incursion of Newton's thought into chemistry brought upon the chemists an epistemological question, that of the nature of their discipline. Would chemistry be a discipline in its own right, or simply a branch of physics? In this work we present the newtonian program for chemistry, as well as the reaction of traditional chemists to it. We conclude by proposing that Lavoisier carried through a synthesis between newtonian methodology and the singularity of traditional chemistry.
Scientiae Studia, 2012
O objetivo deste artigo é investigar a concepção enciclopédica de revolução científica posta em p... more O objetivo deste artigo é investigar a concepção enciclopédica de revolução científica posta em prática pelo químico francês L.-B. Guyton de Morveau (1737-1816). Deslocando a análise do conhecimento químico das Luzes do programa traçado por Lavoisier (1743-1794), sugerimos uma concepção revolucionária republicana, proclamada como resultado do esforço de uma coletividade. Daremos destaque a três abordagens revolucionárias de Guyton de Morveau no âmbito da química. A primeira foi sua atuação no ensino dessa ciência, cuja pedagogia e métodos de ensino foram fundamentais para sua imersão social. Além disso, entre 1770 e 1790, Guyton de Morveau teve desempenhos decisivos no seio da empresa enciclopédica e no seio da escola química francesa. Palavras-chave • Revolução química. Guyton de Morveau. Enciclopédia metódica. Afinidades químicas.
Principia: an international journal of epistemology, 2021
In recent years, besides the increased interest in philosophy of chemistry, we have witnessed a &... more In recent years, besides the increased interest in philosophy of chemistry, we have witnessed a "material turn" in philosophy and the history of sciences with an interest in putting instruments, objects, materials and practices at the core of historical reports. Since its alchemic past, chemistry has worked with and on materials, so that its history is also a "material history". Thus, in the wake of this "material turn", it is up to philosophy and the history of chemistry to perceive the chemical substances, the chemists that create them and the industries that produce them as part of culture, society and politics. This overlap between chemical reasoning and materiality as well as the artificial character of its products makes chemistry an eminently technoscientific science. In this context, we will analyze the most general aspect that led us to identify it as "technoscientific", the hybrid that exists between chemistry and society. With that,...
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Science & Education
Nossa comunicacao tera um objetivo duplo. De uma parte, esclarecer alguns conceitos que fundament... more Nossa comunicacao tera um objetivo duplo. De uma parte, esclarecer alguns conceitos que fundamentam o conhecimento quimico na segunda metade do sec. 18 e, de outra, explicitar seu uso como instrumento no laboratorio filosofico de Jean-Jacques.
Circumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science, 2011
How to turn chemistry into an exact science? For chemist Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737-18... more How to turn chemistry into an exact science? For chemist Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737-1816), the best procedure to achieve this goal was to use resources from theoretical physics as allies in the general delimitation of concepts belonging to that science. Thus, their results could be represented in a rational way and written in mathematical language. His dream was to produce concepts that could translate the dynamics of the material world through this physical chemistry. The key-concept of this dream was that of chemical affinities. In addition to information relevant to understand the meaning of being a Newtonian in the Age of Enlightenment, Guyton de Morveau’s chemical thinking also suggests an alternative understanding of the so-called "chemical revolution".
Natural History, Chemistry, and Teaching in Modern Scientific Culture
This work proposes that a historically delimited study can offer teachers the opportunity to prob... more This work proposes that a historically delimited study can offer teachers the opportunity to problematize with students the historicity of scientific knowledge and its social, economic, pedagogical, and philosophical implications. The authors intend to draw attention to the centrality of chemical knowledge in modern scientific culture and how chemistry teaching is a manifestation of that social interest. Francis Bacon’s new program for natural history in the seventeenth century, more specifically his view of the history of arts, was adopted as the core idea of the work.
Química e Modernidade
Quando se aborda a chamada Revolucao cientifica moderna normalmente se faz referencia a astronomi... more Quando se aborda a chamada Revolucao cientifica moderna normalmente se faz referencia a astronomia e a fisica-matematica. O conhecimento quimico nao e considerado como paradigma para a emergencia da ciencia moderna. Neste brevissimo artigo apenas apontarei alguns elementos e eixos de investigacoes dedicados ao estudo da natureza quimica e das propriedades dos materiais, essenciais para o novo modelo de sociedade que emergiu na modernidade. Assim, vamos a uma rapida visita a alguns lugares-epistemicos do seculo XVII nos quais poderiamos nos deparar com a quimica, a fim de chegarmos a algumas conclusoes, mesmo que provisorias, acerca do lugar deste conhecimento na emergencia de uma nova cultura cientifica.
Lavoisier e a longa revolução na química
Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau : chimiste et professeur au Siècle des Lumières
Guyton de Morveau est surtout connu pour sa participation, comme l’un des collaborateurs de Lavoi... more Guyton de Morveau est surtout connu pour sa participation, comme l’un des collaborateurs de Lavoisier, a l’entreprise de reforme de la nomenclature chimique. L’origine de ce partenariat est generalement decrite comme le resultat de la conversion de Guyton a la nouvelle theorie chimique de Lavoisier. Mais une enquete sur son parcours scientifique et pedagogique revele qu’il est plus raisonnable de voir le rapport entre ces deux chimistes comme une convergence d’efforts pour aboutir a une explication satisfaisante des nouveaux phenomenes observes en laboratoire. En effet, Guyton jouissait d'une tres grande reputation internationale. Cette reputation se fonde sur l’ampleur de sa pensee theorique et sur la qualite de son travail experimental. Tres proche de Macquer, Guyton propose une theorie chimique fondee sur les operations de dissolution et de cristallisation ou les rapports entre les corps sont regis par la loi d’attraction universelle. Cette theorie assimile l’element feu-phlo...
Seabra Telles e a química do século das Luzes
Brazilian and Portuguese historians are in agreement about the name of the first "modern che... more Brazilian and Portuguese historians are in agreement about the name of the first "modern chemist" of Portuguese language, the Luso-Brazilian Vicente Coelho de Seabra Silva Telles (1764-1804). In this article, we intend to investigate his research trajectory with the objective of connecting it with the philosophical, scientific and social themes pertaining to chemistry and the natural philosophy of the last decades of the xviii century. More specifically, we would like to describe how Seabra Telles' investigations dialogue with those of the leading representatives of the "Republic of Chemists" from the so-called “Century of Enlightenment”.
Blood, Transfusions, and Longevity
There is a vast literature dealing with the progress of transfusion techniques and investigations... more There is a vast literature dealing with the progress of transfusion techniques and investigations of senescence. However, in general, there is little interest in the metaphysical, philosophical, and even political factors that have led to the use of these techniques and the connection of blood with aging. We do not propose a new linear historical description of transfusion techniques or the origins of the human struggle against aging, but rather a historical-epistemological reflection of concrete contexts in which blood transfusions were associated with the fight against senescence. We will highlight a common element to the historical cases analyzed here. It is the application of what we call the “Baconian program” of nature’s research. The first concerns the metaphysical-theological aspirations present at the origin of the Baconian program of research, and then indicating the reasons that led to its abandonment. The second historic case will discuss some ideas and practices carried...
Filosofia da química e dos materiais: entrevista com Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent
Em Construção
Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, professora emérita da Universidade de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, é h... more Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, professora emérita da Universidade de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, é historiadora e filósofa das ciências. Além de mais de uma centena de artigos publicados em periódicos científicos e como capítulos de livros coletivos, suas principais obras são: Histoire de la chimie[1], em colaboração com Isabelle Stengers (La Découverte, 1993), La science populaire dans la presse et l’édition, em colaboração com Anne Rasmussen (CNRS Editions, 1997), Lavoisier. Mémoires d’une révolution (Flammarion, 1998), Eloge du mixte. Matériaux nouveaux et philosophie ancienne (Hachette, 1998), Faut-il avoir peur de la chimie? (Les Empêcheurs de penser en ronde, 2005), Matière à penser. Essais d’histoire et de philosophie de la chimie (Presses Universitaires de Paris Ouest, 2008), Chemistry, the impure Science em colaboração com Jonathan Simon (Imperial College Press, 2008), Les vertiges de la technoscience. Façonner le monde atome par atome[2] (La Découverte, 2009), Fabriquer la vi...
Faraday e Matteucci: Um caso de descoberta independente no estudo da eletrólise no século XIX
Anais do 20º Encontro Nacional de Ensino de Química (ENEQ Pernambuco)
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Papers by Ronei Clécio Mocellin