Tuesday, 3 October 2006
Quantum Symbolism: a Kantian Aspect of Bohr’s Thought
Hernán Pringe, Department of Philosophy, University of Dortmund
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning

Abstract: The problem of the objective reference of physical concepts is a main issue for the philosophy of physics. In the case of quantum theory, the question is: how does the concept of an object that cannot simultaneously satisfy the demands of causality and spatio-temporal exhibition receive empirical content? In this talk I shall argue that Bohr’s answer is strictly Kantian: the concepts of quantum objects acquire objective reality only by means of symbols.