Abstract
The roles of classical realism, logical positivism, and pragmatic instrumentalism in the shaping of fundamental ideas in quantum physics are examined in the light of some recent historical and sociological studies of the factors that influenced their development. It is shown that those studies indicate that the conventionalistic form of instrumentalism that has dominated all the major post-World War II developments in quantum physics is not an outgrowth of the Copenhagen school, and that despite the “schism” in twentieth century physics created by the Bohr-Einstein “disagreements” on foundational issues in quantum theory, both their philosophical stands were very much opposed to those of conventionalistic instrumentalism. Quotations from the writings of Dirac, Heisenberg, Popper, Russell, and other influential thinkers, are provided, illustrating the fact that, despite the various divergencies in their opinions, they all either opposed the instrumentalist concept of “truth” in general, or its conventionalistic version in post-World War II quantum physics in particular. The basic epistemic ideas of a quantum geometry approach to quantum physics are reviewed and discussed from the point of view of a quantum realism that seeks to reconcile Bohr's “positivism” with Einstein's “realism” by emphasizing the existence of an underlying quantum reality, in which they both believed. This quantum geometry framework seeks to introduce geometro-stochastic concepts that are specifically designed for the systematic description of that underlying quantum reality, by developing the conceptual and mathematical tools that are most appropriate for such a use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. Popper,Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics (Hutchinson, London, 1982).
B. Russell,A History of Western Philosophy (Simon and Shuster, New York, 1945).
K. Popper,Conjectures and Refutations (Harper & Row, New York, 1963).
K. Popper, inQuantum Theory and Reality, M. Bunge, ed. (Springer, New York, 1967).
K. Popper,Unended Quest: An Intellectual Autobiography (Open Court, La Salle, Illinois, 1976).
M. Cini,Fundamenta Scientiae 1, 157 (1980).
A. Pickering, inPions to Quarks: Particle Physics in the 1950's, L. M. Brown, M. Dresden, and L. Hoddeson, eds. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989).
S. S. Schweber, inPions to Quarks: Particle Physics in the 1950's, L. M. Brown, M. Dresden, and L. Hoddeson, eds. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989).
J. T. Cushing,Theory Construction and Selection in Modern Physics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990).
P. A. M. Dirac,Phys. Rev. 139B, 684 (1965).
P. A. M. Dirac, inDirections in Physics, H. Hora and J. R. Shepanski, eds. (Wiley, New York, 1978).
P. A. M. Dirac, inMathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, A. R. Marlow, ed. (Academic Press, New York, 1978).
P. A. M. Dirac, inReminiscences About a Great Physicist: Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, B. N. Kursunoglu and E. P. Wigner, eds. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987).
B. d'Espagnat,Reality and the Physicist (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989).
E. Prugovečki,Quantum Geometry: A Framework for Quantum General Relativity (Kluwer, Dordrecht, in press).
E. Prugovečki,Found. Phys. 21, 93 (1991).
E. Prugovečki,Stochastic Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Spacetime, corr. printing (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986).
E. Nelson,Quantum Fluctuations (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1986).
Kh. Namsrai,Nonlocal Quantum Field Theory and Stochastic Quantum Mechanics (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986).
W. Heisenberg,Phys. Today 29(3), 32 (1976).
M. Gell-Mann, inThe Nature of the Physical Universe: 1976 Nobel Conference, D. Huff and O. Prewett, eds. (Wiley, New York, 1979).
J. Mehra and H. Rechenberg,The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, Volumes 1–4 (Springer, New York, 1982).
A. Pais,Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1982).
A. Einstein,Ann. Phys. 49, 769 (1916); translated in English by W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffery as “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity,” pp. 109–164 inThe Principle of Relativity (Methuen, London, 1923; reprinted by Dover, New York, 1952).
J. Stachel, inEinstein and the History of General Relativity and Gravitation, D. Howard and J. Stachel, eds. (Birkhäuser, Boston, 1989).
M. Jammer,The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966).
H. J. Folse,The Philosophy of Niels Bohr (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1985).
D. Murdoch,Niels Bohr's Philosophy of Physics, edition with corrections (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989).
F. Selleri,Quantum Paradoxes and Physical Reality (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1990).
H. P. Stapp,Found. Phys. 21, 1 (1991).
A. Petersen, inNiels Bohr: A Centenary Volume, A. P. French and P. J. Kennedy, eds. (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1985).
N. Bohr,Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge (Science Editions, New York, 1961).
M. Kline,Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty (Oxford University Press, New York, 1980).
N. Bohr,The Unity of Knowledge (Doubleday, New York, 1955).
N. Bohr,Essays 1958/1962 on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge (Wiley, New York, 1963).
H. P. Stapp,Am. J. Phys. 40, 1098 (1972).
J. Schwinger, ed.,Quantum Electrodynamics (Dover, New York, 1958).
H. S. Kragh,Dirac: A Scientific Biography (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990).
P. A. M. Dirac,Nature 137, 298 (1936).
A. Pais, inReminiscences About a Great Physicist: Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, B. N. Kursunoglu and E. P. Wigner, eds. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987).
P. A. M. Dirac,Commun. Dublin Inst. Adv. Studies A 3, 1 (1946).
P. A. M. Dirac,Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 209, 251 (1951).
N. N. Bogolubov, A. A. Logunov, and I. T. Todorov,Introduction to Axiomatic Quantum Field Theory (Benjamin, Reading, Mass., 1975).
C. Itzykson and J.-B. Zuber,Quantum Field Theory (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1980).
F. J. Dyson,Phys. Rev. 85, 631 (1952).
J. Glimm and A. Jaffe,Quantum Physics, 2nd edition (Springer, New York, 1987).
A. Franklin,The Neglect of Experiment (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986).
A. Franklin,Experiment, Right or Wrong (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990).
W. Heisenberg,Physics and Beyond (Harper and Row, New York, 1971).
F. J. Dyson,Math. Intelligencer 5(3), 47 (1983).
H. Poincaré, inReadings on the Philosophy of Science, Feigl, H., and M. Brodbeck, eds. (Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, 1953).
W. V. Quine, inReadings in Philosophical Analysis, H. Feigle and W. Sellars, eds. (Apple-Century-Crofts, New York, 1953).
S. S. Schweber,Osiris 2, 265 (1986).
P. Lorenzen,Constructive Philosophy (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, Mass., 1987).
E. Prugovečki,Found. Phys. Lett. 3, 37 (1990).
E. Prugovečki,Found. Phys. Lett. 4, 129 (1991).
A. Einstein, B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen,Phys. Rev. 47, 777 (1935).
E. P. Wigner,Z. Phys. 131, 101 (1952).
H. Araki and M. M. Yanase,Phys. Rev. 120, 622 (1960).
E. P. Wigner, inQuantum Theory and Measurement, J. A. Wheeler and W. H. Zurek, eds. (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1983).
P. Busch,J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 18, 3351 (1985).
A. Einstein, inAlbert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist, P. A. Schilpp, ed. (Harper & Row, New York, 1949).
C. Swoyer, inMeasurement, Realism and Objectivity, J. Forge, ed. (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1987).
G. F. R. Ellis, inEinstein and the History of General Relativity, D. Howard and J. Stachel, eds. (Birkhäuser, Boston, 1989).
J. Stachel, inGeneral Relativity and Gravitation, Vol. 1, A. Held, ed. (Plenum, New York, 1980).
G. F. Chew and H. P. Stapp,Found. Phys. 18, 809 (1988).
V. Kaplunowski and M. Weinstein,Phys. Rev. D 31, 1879 (1985).
N. D. Birrell and P. C. W. Davies,Quantum Fields in Curved Space (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986).
M. Born,Rev. Mod. Phys. 21, 463 (1949).
J. A. Brooke and E. Prugovečki,Nuovo Cimento A 79, 237 (1984).
E. Prugovečki,Nuovo Cimento A 102, 881 (1989).
H. Lehmann, K. Symanzik, and W. Zimmermann,Nuovo Cimento 6, 319 (1957).
J. Fröhlich, G. Marchio, and F. Strocchi,Ann. Phys. (N.Y.)119, 241 (1979).
A. van der Merwe, F. Selleri, and G. Tarozzi, eds.,Microphysical Reality and Quantum Formalism (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
G. Tarozzi and A. van der Merwe, eds.,The Nature of Quantum Paradoxes (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
M. Kafatos, ed.,Bell's Theorem, Quantum Theory and Conceptions of the Universe (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
A. Bohmet al., Int. J. Mod. Phys. 3, 1103 (1988).
W. Drechsler and E. Prugovečki,Found. Phys. 21, 513 (1991).
M. Jammer,Concepts of Space (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969).
B. S. DeWitt and N. Graham,The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1973).
J. D. Barrow and F. J. Tipler,The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986).
J. B. Hartle and S. W. Hawking,Phys. Rev. D 28, 2960 (1983).
J. von Neumann,Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1955).
E. P. Wigner, inThe Scientist Speculates, I. G. Good, ed. (Heineman, London, 1962).
M. Bunge,Causality (World Publishing, Cleveland, Ohio, 1970).
J. S. Bell,Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics (Cabridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987).
J. C. Polkingbore, inA Passion for Physics: Essays in Honor of Geoffrey Chew, C. De Tar, J. Finkelstein, and C. I. Tan, eds. (World Scientific, Singapore, 1985).
R. L. Oldershaw,Am. J. Phys. 56, 1075 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prugovečki, E. Realism, positivism, instrumentalism, and quantum geometry. Found Phys 22, 143–186 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01893610
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01893610