Description
Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics. Why? Not because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical questions-the theory itself is remarkably silent on the nature of the physical world, and the various interpretations of the theory on offer present conflicting ontological pictures. Rather, quantum mechanics is essential to the metaphysician because it reshapes standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new metaphysical possibilities. Even if quantum mechanics provides few clear answers, there are good reasons to think that any adequate understanding of the quantum world will result in a radical reshaping of our classical world-view in some way or other. Whatever the world is like at the atomic scale, it is almost certainly not the swarm of particles pushed around by forces that is often presupposed. This book guides readers through the theory of quantum mechanics and its implications for metaphysics in a clear and accessible way. The theory and its various interpretations are presented with a minimum of technicality. The consequences of these interpretations for metaphysical debates concerning realism, indeterminacy, causation, determinism, holism, and individuality (among other topics) are explored in detail, stressing the novel form that the debates take given the empirical facts in the quantum domain. While quantum mechanics may not deliver unconditional pronouncements on these issues, the range of possibilities consistent with our knowledge of the empirical world is relatively small-and each possibility is metaphysically revisionary in some way. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and anybody else interested in how science informs our world-view.
Table of Contents
Preface Introduction1 Phenomena and Theory1.1 Interference1.2 Entanglement1.3 Matrix mechanics1.4 Wave mechanics1.5 Interpretation2 Realism2.1 Quantum mechanics as incomplete2.2 No-go theorems2.3 What do the theorems prove?2.4 Rescuing realism2.5 Conclusion3 Underdetermination3.1 The measurement problem3.2 Spontaneous collapse theories3.3 Hidden variable theories3.4 The many worlds theory3.5 Reducing the alternatives3.6 Conclusion4 Indeterminacy4.1 Textbook indeterminacy4.2 Radical indeterminacy4.3 Moderate indeterminacy4.4 Indeterminacy and branching4.5 Avoiding indeterminacy4.6 Conclusion5 Causation5.1 Locality5.2 Particle trajectories5.3 Wave packets5.4 Collapses as causes5.5 Conclusion6 Determinism6.1 Uncertainty6.2 Probability6.3 Immortality6.4 Free will6.5 Conclusion7 Dimensions7.1 Configuration space7.2 Three-dimensionality as an illusion7.3 Adding ontology7.4 Interpreting the wave function7.5 Conclusion8 Parts and Wholes8.1 The case for holism8.2 Holism reconsidered8.3 The case against individuals8.4 Individuals reconsidered8.5 Conclusion9 Six Quantum WorldsReferences
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