INVESTIGADORES
DE RONDE Christian
artículos
Título:
Metaphysical Issues in the Philosophical Foundation of Quantum Mechanics
Autor/es:
CHRISTIAN DE RONDE
Revista:
Philosophica
Editorial:
Ghent University
Referencias:
Lugar: Gent; Año: 2010 vol. 83 p. 5 - 14
ISSN:
0379-8402
Resumen:
The advent of quantum mechanics in physics was concomitant with the arrival of logical empiricism on the philosophical scene. While quantum mechanics quickly lead to philosophical speculation among physicists (which many scholars felt was metaphysical), logical positivism was a frontal assault on the deep seated tendency towards metaphysics in Western philosophical thought. However, the philosophical movement that grew out of Logical Empiricism – sometimes going by the name Anglo-Saxon philosophy but better know as analytic philosophy – “was subverted by reactionary forces. [...] And lo, even before mid-century, some of its ablest adherents began to make the world safe for metaphysics again” (van Fraassen, 2002, p. xviii). Thus, the possibility or impossibility of a metaphysical development of physics – a discussion which has taken place mainly within the analytic domain – remains at stake at the beginning of the 21st century. Contrary to that other revolution in physics, relativity theory, quantum mechanics was ambiguous with respect to metaphysics from the start. So even though metaphysics is again relevant in any domain of physics, including relativity theory, quantum mechanics – exactly because of its recalcitrant nature with respect to any kind of interpretation – remains an even more interesting locus for philosophical research into the nature of a contemporary metaphysics of science than relativity theory. From very different perspectives, this special issue is an attempt to address the metaphysical and anti-metaphysical stances of very different proposals regarding the interpretation of quantum mechanics. The question of metaphysics in the context of quantum mechanics has – implicitly or explicitly – raised many questions and problems. In particular, the debate which took place between Einstein and Bohr regarding the interpretation of quantum mechanics reveals the tension present not only in the 20th century physics but also philosophy between two contrary stances. On the one hand, Einstein analyzed the conditions of possibility for physical experience and worried about the problem of reality, on the other, Bohr conceived a pragmatic scheme based on language and communicability. Einstein and Bohr took different stances in the analysis of the meaning of quantum mechanics and physics itself. These discussions, as exposed in the current volume, have not only continued but are still an important aspect of our present day analysis of quantum theory.