Abstract
Many of the pioneers of quantum mechanics — notably Planck, Einstein, Bohr, de Broglie, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Born, Jordan, Landé, Wigner, and London — were seriously concerned with philosophical questions. In each case one can ask a question of psychological and historical interest: was it a philosophical penchant which drew the investigator towards a kind of physics research which is linked to philosophy, or was it rather that the conceptual difficulties of fundamental physics pulled him willy-nilly into the labyrinth of philosophy? I shall not undertake to discuss this question, but shall cite an opinion of Peter Bergmann, which I find congenial: he learned from Einstein that “the theoretical physicist is … a philosopher in workingman’s clothes” ([1],q. v).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bergmann, P. 1949. Basic Theories of Physics 1. New York: Prentice-Hall.
Bohr, N. 1958. Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. New York: Wiley.
Petersen, A. 1968. Quantum Physics and the Philosophical Tradition. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press.
Bohr, N. 1966. Essays 1958–1962 on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. New York: Vintage.
Heisenberg, W. 1962. Physics and Philosophy. New York: Harper.
Margenau, H. 1949. Philosophy of Science 16, 287.
Gleason, A. 1957. Journal of Mathematics and Mechanics 6, 885.
Bell, J. S. 1965. Physics 1, 195.
Bell, J. S. 1966. Reviews of Modern Physics 38, 447.
Bell, J. S. 1971. In Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, ed. B. d’Espagnat. New York: Academic Press.
Wigner, E. 1963. American Journal of Physics 31, 6.
d’Espagnat, B. 1966. Supplemento al Nuovo Cimento 4, 828.
Shimony, A. 1974. Physical Review D9, 2321.
Eliot, T. S. 1936. Collected Poems 1909–1935. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.
Schrödinger, E. 1935. Naturwissenschaften 23,807, 823, 844.
Schrödinger, E. 1935. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 31, 555.
Bohm, D. and Aharonov, Y. 1957. Physical Review 108, 1070.
Wu, C. S. and Shaknov, I. 1950. Physical Review 77, 136.
Schrödinger, E. 1967. What is Life? and Mind and Matter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schrödinger, E. 1956. What is Life? and Other Scientific Essays. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.
Schrödinger, E. 1957. Science, Theory, and Man. New York: Dover.
Schrödinger, E. 1954. Nature and the Greeks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mach, E. 1959. The Analysis of Sensations. New York: Dover.
Schrödinger, E. 1936. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 32, 446.
Shull, C. G., Atwood, D. K., Arthur, J., and Home, M. A. 1980. Physical Review Letters 44, 765.
Shimony, A. 1978. International Philosophical Quarterly 18, 3.
Puharich, A. (ed.). 1979. The Iceland Papers. Amherst, WI.: Essentia Research.
Hall, J., Kim, C., McElroy, B. and Shimony, A. 1977. Foundations of Physics 7, 759.
Schrödinger, E. 1964. My View of the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Whitehead, A. N. 1965. Adventures of Ideas. New York: New American Library of World Literature
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper is dedicated to Adolf Grünbaum in honor of his lifetime of explorations of the interdependence of philosophy and the natural sciences.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1983 D. Reidel Publishing Company
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shimony, A. (1983). Reflections on the Philosophy of Bohr, Heisenberg, and Schrödinger. In: Cohen, R.S., Wartofsky, M.W. (eds) A Portrait of Twenty-five Years. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5345-1_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5345-1_20
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-277-1971-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5345-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive