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Definition: Alchemy was a popular pursuit during the middle ages and renaissance, combining occult beliefs in supernatural powers with belief in the power of empirical science and chemistry. The earliest forms of alchemy originated independently in Hellenistic Egypt and ancient China.
Although alchemy formed the basis of what became modern chemistry, one of its fundamental premises is that all matter is created out of one primal substance, an idea derived from Aristotle's conception of physics. If all matter is derived froma single substance, then it should be possible to reform one type of matter into some other type - thus giving rise to the alchemist's quest to turn various metals into gold. Other common goals were an elixer of life and a universal pancea.
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It helps to know what, exactly, an argument is before you can critique one and tell what is wrong with it. Sometimes, people say they are making arguments when they are not!How do you critique an argument?
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