Powers ontology and the quantum revolution
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(2021) 11:14
PAPER IN GENERAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Powers ontology and the quantum revolution Robert C. Koons1 Received: 7 February 2020 / Accepted: 17 September 2020 / © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract An Aristotelian philosophy of nature rejects the modern prejudice in favor of the microscopic, a rejection that is crucial if we are to penetrate the mysteries of the quantum world. I defend an Aristotelian model by drawing on both quantum chemistry and recent work on the measurement problem. By building on the work of Hans Primas, using the distinction between quantum and classical properties that emerges in quantum chemistry at the thermodynamic or continuum limit, I develop a new version of the Copenhagen interpretation, a version that is realist, holistic, and hylomorphic in character, allowing for the attribution of fundamental causal powers to human observers and their instruments. I conclude with a critique of non-hylomorphic theories of primitive ontology, including Bohmian mechanics, Everettianism, and GRW mass-density. Keywords Quantum mechanics · Powers ontology · Causal powers · Aristotelianism · Neo-Aristotelianism · Hylomorphism · Measurement problem · Neo-Humeanism · Quantum chemistry · Thermodynamics · Many-worlds interpretation · Bohmian mechanics · GRW
1 Introduction Widespread dissatisfaction with Humean and Neo-Humean projects has led to a revival of interest in Aristotle-inspired theories of causal powers. This revival has great potential to illuminate issues in the philosophy of science and of nature. In particular, an Aristotelian perspective on the import of the quantum revolution would open up new avenues of thought. In this paper, I will sketch one such perspective.
This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Powers in the world of science Guest Editors: Andrea Roselli, Anna Marmodoro Robert C. Koons
[email protected] 1
University of Texas at Austin, Austin Texas, USA
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European Journal for Philosophy of Science
(2021) 11:14
In the first section, I describe the basic elements of a powers ontology, in contrast to its principal competitors, and I propose that there two distinct philosophies of nature correspond to two of these ontologies (Aristotelian and Humean). Then, in Section 2, I argue that the quantum revolution has taken science in the direction of an Aristotelian metaphysics and philosophy of nature, a fact that has been noted by some (including Planck and Heisenberg) but which has not yet been widely recognized in contemporary philosophy of science. This new direction includes three components: potentiality, processes, and (most importantly) the need for a fundamentally real domain (beyond the microphysical) that includes experimenters and their instruments. I explain in Sections 3, 4, and 5 why the Aristotelian philosophy of science offers an alternative to the reduction of special sciences to microphysics. An Aristotelian philosophy of nature rejects the modern prejudice in favor of the microscopic, a rejection that is crucial if we are to penet
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