 In the background of all of these debates about chemical reduction are issues concerning the criteria for successful reduction. All of the literature that we have discussed make explicit or implicit reference to Nagel’s influential account of reduction. Beyond the philosophy of chemistry literature, this account has also been presupposed by critics of particular reductionist theses (e.g. Davidson 1970), even when making points about the inapplicability of Nagel’s account to particular sciences (Kitcher 1984). But Nagel’s account of reduction is thought by many to be unrealistic and inapplicable to actual science because of the logical requirements it assumes.