On The Philosophy of Nature: A Guide to the New Essentialism (2002). What kind of metaphysics underlies chemistry and physics? Ellis argues that items such as chemical elements and physical particles have essences, and that these essential properties determine their behavior, which is characterized by scientific laws. Thus, these laws are necessary; they apply in all possible worlds. Get more at . Visit  to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsor: Get a $1/month e-commerce trial at . Learn about our new book at .

Ep. 339: Brian Ellis on the Metaphysics of Science (Part One)

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion.