Conference Announcement 

It is with great pleasure that we announce the upcoming International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (ISPC) Conference, which will be hosted by Filip Buyse in Antwerp, Belgium, on the following dates:

📅 July 9th, 10th, and 11th, 2025

Call for Abstracts | 28th Conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry | 9-11 July 2025

We are pleased to announce that the 28th annual conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (ISPC 2025) will be held from 9 to 11 July 2025, in Antwerp, Belgium under the auspices of the Royal Flemish Chemical Society (KVCV).

We herewith invite proposals addressing a diverse range of contemporary questions in the epistemology and metaphysics of chemistry.

Dates: 9, 10 and 11 July 2025 Location: UCSIA, Koningstraat 2-4, 2000 Antwerp (Belgium)

Confirmed keynote speaker:

Prof. em. Bernadette BENSAUDE-VINCENT - Université Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne

Deadline for abstract submission: 31 March 2025 Notification of acceptance: 20 April 2025

Further details regarding the venue, programme, and registration process will be provided in due course.

Please direct any inquiries to dr. Filip Buyse (Royal Flemish Chemical Society) or dr. Pieter Thyssen (University of Liège).

We look forward to welcoming you all in Antwerp,

Kind regards,

The organising committee

Call for abstracts We welcome submissions on any topic in the philosophy of chemistry. However, please note the conference theme outlined below. Presentations will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for Q&A.

Candidate speakers should submit a 1-page abstract (in docx or pdf format) of no more than 600 words (excluding references) by 31 March. All abstracts must contain a title, and be prepared for anonymous review. Please send your abstracts to ispc.2025.antwerp@gmail.com

Please include your affiliations in the body of your email, and specify whether your paper will be presented in person or online.

Submitted abstracts will be blind-reviewed by the scientific committee. Notifications of acceptance will be delivered by 20 April.

Conference theme

Approximately 400 years ago, around 1625, the Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont (1579–1644) introduced the term "gas" into scientific discourse. He derived the term from the Greek word chaos (χάος), reflecting his conception of an unformed, chaotic state of matter. Van Helmont used "gas" to describe substances that were neither solid nor liquid, with a particular focus on what we now recognise as gases. His pioneering work greatly advanced early chemistry and the study of gases, particularly through his experiments on carbon dioxide, which he referred to as gas sylvestre.

Van Helmont's ideas about substances, their properties, and their chemical reactions were instrumental in the transition from alchemy to modern chemistry. His emphasis on experimentation and his conceptualisation of gas laid important foundations for scientific thought in the 17th and 18th centuries.

This historical milestone connects the chemistry of the 17th century to contemporary issues, including climate change and environmental challenges. We are particularly interested in papers that examine the philosophical dimensions of Van Helmont’s experiments and ideas, as well as their influence on later scientists such as Robert Boyle (1627–1691), Franciscus Sylvius (1614–1672), Johann Joachim Becher (16351682), Georg Ernst Stahl (1660–1734) and Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794). Additionally, we welcome discussions on the broader historical significance of gases.