Quantum Matter

GUSTAVO E. ROMERO

Contemporary Materialism: Its Ontology and Epistemology

Springer International Publishing AG

Año: 2022; p. 155 - 176

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory that represents physicalprocesses at atomic and sub-atomic level. It is an extraordinarily successful theory,but its interpretation has been the subject of endless controversies. Quantummechanics and its further developments such as quantum eld theory have beeninvoked to justify beliefs in idealism, the independent existence of the mind,innite worlds, and almost anything imaginable. In this chapter I review the basicassumptions of both quantum mechanics and quantum eld theory and present ananalysis of their ontological implications. I evaluate the concept of matter in the lightof both theories and conclude that, far from being idealistic theories, they agree witha fully materialistic view of the world