Skip to main content
Log in

Interview with physicist Christopher Fuchs

  • Published:
Continental Philosophy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

QBism is an interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposed by certain physicists that interprets quantum probabilities as subjective Bayesian probabilities, whence its name. By attempting to avoid experientially unfulfilled speculations about what exists prior to measurement, QBism seems to make a close encounter with the phenomenological method. What follows is an interview with QBism’s founder and principal champion, the physicist Christopher Fuchs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For an overview of the dominant strains of interpretation and their commitments, see Peter Lewis (2016, 179–182).

  2. Fuchs (2016).

  3. See for comparison Bitbol (2020).

  4. Fuchs (2011).

  5. Wheeler (1973).

  6. Jaynes (1990). p. 381.

  7. Fuchs (2016).

  8. James (1979, 117–118).

  9. James (1975, 123–124).

  10. James (1975, 122–123).

  11. For one phenomenological account of the problem of observability, see Wiltsche (2012).

  12. Von Baeyer (2009). p. 64. Quote from the original English manscript of the book.

  13. Schilpp (1949). pp. 673–674.

  14. See also Wiltsche (2012).

  15. See Fuchs (2017, 2018).

  16. Pienaar (2020).

  17. Kochen and Specker (1967).

  18. Peres (1978).

  19. Fuchs, Mermin and Schack (2014).

  20. Caves, Fuchs, and Schack (2002).

  21. See Stacey (2019) for a more extensive list of these changes of heart.

  22. Timpson (2008).

  23. Caves, Fuchs, and Schack (2007).

  24. Rorty (1991). p. 1.

  25. Fuchs (2014).

  26. Powell (2019).

  27. Einstein (1948). p. 187.

  28. Heisenberg (1971). p. 206.

  29. Bohr (1962).

  30. Fuchs (2017).

References

  • Bohr, Niels, 1962. Interview of Niels Bohr by Thomas S. Kuhn, Leon Rosenfeld, Aage Petersen, and Erik Rudinger in the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics, 1962 November 17, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD USA. https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4517-5.

  • Bitbol, Michel. 2020. Is the life-world reduction sufficient in quantum physics?. Continental Philosophy Review. Online First.

  • Caves, Carlton M., Christopher A. Fuchs, and Rüdiger Schack. 2002. Quantum probabilities as Bayesian probabilities. Physical review A 65 (2): 022305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caves, Carlton M., Christopher A. Fuchs, and Rüdiger Schack. 2007. Subjective probability and quantum certainty. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 38: 255–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einstein, Albert. 1948. Quanten-Mechanik und Wirklichkeit. Dialectica. 2: 320-324. Passage translated in, D. Howard. 1985. Einstein on locality and separability. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, Part A. 16: 171–201.

  • Fuchs, Christopher A. 2010. QBism, the Perimeter of Quantum Bayesianism. arXiv:1003.5209.

  • Fuchs, Christopher A. 2011. Interview with a Quantum Bayesian. arXiv:1207.2141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, Christopher A. 2014. My Struggles with the block universe: Selected correspondence, January 2001—May 2011. arXiv:1405.2390.

  • Fuchs, Christopher A. 2016. On participatory realism. arXiv:1601.04360.

  • Fuchs, Christopher A. 2017. Notwithstanding Bohr, the reasons for QBism. arXiv:1705.03483.

  • Fuchs, Christopher A. 2018. Copenhagen Interpretation Delenda Est? arXiv:1809.05147.

  • Fuchs, Christopher A., N. David Mermin, and Rüdiger Schack. 2014. An introduction to QBism with an application to the locality of quantum mechanics. arXiv:1311.5253.

  • Heisenberg, Werner. 1971. Physics and beyond: Encounters and conversations. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, William. 1979. The Dilemma of Determinism. In The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, ed. F. H. Burkhardt, F. Bowers, and I. K. Skrupskelis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • James, William. 1975. Pragmatism, ed. F. Bowers and I. K. Skrupskelis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Jaynes, E.T. 1990. Probability in quantum theory. In Complexity, entropy, and the physics of information, ed. W.H. Zurek. Redwood City: Addison-Wesley Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kochen, Simon, and E.P. Specker. 1967. The problem of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. Journal of Mathematics and Mechanics. 17 (1): 59–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Peter. 2016. Quantum ontology: A guide to the metaphysics of quantum mechanics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Peres, Asher. 1978. Unperformed experiments have no results. American Journal of Physics 46: 745–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pienaar, Jacques. 2020. Extending the agent in QBism. arXiv:2004.14847.

  • Powell, Corey S. 2019. Quantum physics is no more mysterious than crossing the street: A conversation with Chris Fuchs. Discover, November 29, 2019.

  • Rorty, Richard. 1991. Introduction: Antirepresentationalism, ethnocentrism, and liberalism. In Objectivity, relativism, and truth: philosophical papers, vol. 1, ed. Richard Rorty, 1–17. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilpp, Paul Arthur, ed. 1949. Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. La Salle, IL: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stacey, Blake C. 2019. Ideas Abandoned en Route to QBism. arXiv:1911.07386.

  • Stapledon, Olaf. 1937. Star Maker. London: Methuen.

  • Timpson, Christopher G. 2008. Quantum Bayesianism: A study. arXiv:0804.2047.

  • von Baeyer, H.C. 2009. Petite leçons de physique dans les jardins de paris. Paris: Dunod.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, John Archibald. 1973. From relativity to mutability. In The physicist’s conception of nature, ed. Jagdish Mehra, 202–249. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wiltsche, Harald. 2012. What is Wrong with Husserl’s Scientific Anti-Realism? Inquiry 55 (2): 105–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert P. Crease.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Crease, R.P., Sares, J. Interview with physicist Christopher Fuchs. Cont Philos Rev 54, 541–561 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-020-09525-6

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-020-09525-6

Keywords

Navigation