In a thought experiment meant to support the idea of semantic externalism, the word denoting this substance is said to exist with exactly the same observable qualities as on earth, but to be composed of "XYZ" rather than its chemical components on Earth.
That this substance is not exactly the same as its chemical formula is argued in J. Van Brakel's "Chemistry as the Science of the Transformation of Substances," which notes that an individual molecule of it doesn't have this substance's observable qualities. In a thought experiment meant to support the idea of semantic externalism, the word denoting this substance is said to exist with exactly the same observable qualities as on earth, but to be composed of "XYZ" rather than its chemical components on Earth. Subject of Hilary Putnam's Twin Earth thought experiment, FTP what critical liquid was thought by Thales of Miletus to be the fundamental substance of the universe?
That this substance is not exactly the same as its chemical formula is argued in J. Van Brakel's "Chemistry as the Science of the Transformation of Substances," which notes that an individual molecule of it doesn't have this substance's observable qualities.
water