Ontic Structural Realism and the Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles

Ainsworth, Peter M.

doi:10.1007/s10670-011-9279-x

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Bohmian particles hence distinguish themselves by their position (no two particles can have the same value of position at a given time); they are absolutely discernible objects. However, this fact does not hinder applying OSR to Bohmian mechanics: OSR does not entail a failure of discernibility (see Ainsworth 2011).…”

Section: Osr Applied To the Main Interpretations Of Qmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontic structural realism and the interpretation of quantum mechanics

Esfeld

2012

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper argues that ontic structural realism (OSR) faces a dilemma: either it remains on the general level of realism with respect to the structure of a given theory, but then it is, like epistemic structural realism, only a partial realism; or it is a complete realism, but then it has to answer the question how the structure of a given theory is implemented, instantiated or realized and thus has to argue for a particular interpretation of the theory in question. This claim is illustrated by examining how OSR fares with respect to the three main candidates for an ontology of quantum mechanics, namely many worlds-type interpretations, collapse-type interpretations and hidden variable-type interpretations. The result is that OSR as such is not sufficient to answer the question of what the world is like if quantum mechanics is correct.

show abstract

Section: Osr Applied To the Main Interpretations Of Qmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontic structural realism and the interpretation of quantum mechanics

Esfeld

2012

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Structural realism has often been accepted as a feasible philosophical framework for science and especially for physics and biology [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. For instance, starting from the external reality hypothesis, which postulates an external physical reality that is totally independent of human beings, Max Tegmark discussed the possibility of conceiving our physical world as an abstract mathematical structure (the mathematical universe hypothesis) provided that we use a sufficiently broad definition of mathematics [ 16 ].…”

Section: Introduction—the Esr As a Philosophical Framework For Stumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It would emphasise the ‘What can we know about consciousness?’ question, one which neuroscience and cognitive science could now answer (also with the help of philosophy and mathematics), toward a later (and hopefully not very late) better or even complete ontological explanation of what human consciousness may be (cf. [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] for the ‘objects’ vs. ‘structure’ discussion and the differences between the OSR and the ESR).…”

Section: Introduction—the Esr As a Philosophical Framework For Stumentioning

confidence: 99%

An ESR Framework for the Study of Consciousness

Stanciu

2021

Entropy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

I will argue that, in an interdisciplinary study of consciousness, epistemic structural realism (ESR) can offer a feasible philosophical background for the study of consciousness and its associated neurophysiological phenomena in neuroscience and cognitive science while also taking into account the mathematical structures involved in this type of research. Applying the ESR principles also to the study of the neurophysiological phenomena associated with free will (or rather conscious free choice) and with various alterations of consciousness (AOCs) generated by various pathologies such as epilepsy would add explanatory value to the matter. This interdisciplinary approach would be in tune with Quine’s well known idea that philosophy is not simple conceptual analysis but is continuous with science and actually represents an abstract branch of the empirical research. The ESR could thus resonate with scientific models of consciousness such as the global neuronal workspace model (inspired by the global workspace theory—GWT) and the integrated information theory (IIT) model. While structural realism has already been employed in physics or biology, its application as a meta-theory contextualising and relating various scientific findings on consciousness is new indeed. Out of the two variants: ontic structural realism (OSR) and epistemic structural realism (ESR), the latter can be considered more suitable for the study of consciousness and its associated neurophysiological phenomena because it removes the pressure of the still unanswered ‘What is consciousness?’ ontological question and allows us to concentrate instead on the ‘What can we know about consciousness?’ epistemological question.

show abstract

“…Whereas weak discernibility clearly offers a favorable environment for OSR (Muller 2011), this latter conception is not committed to weak discernibility or to the validity of any version of Leibniz's Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles (PII) (Ainsworth 2011): nothing in the central claim of OSR as presented above implies any commitment to discernibility or the PII.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within quantum theory, OSR is most widely discussed in connection with the permutation invariance of similar elementary quantum particles; in particular their possible weak discernibility and its link with OSR have been recently much debated (Saunders 2006, Dieks and Versteegh 2008, Muller and Saunders 2008, Muller and Seevinck 2009, Ladyman and Bigaj 2010, Ainsworth 2011. Whereas weak discernibility clearly offers a favorable environment for OSR (Muller 2011), this latter conception is not committed to weak discernibility or to the validity of any version of Leibniz's Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles (PII) (Ainsworth 2011): nothing in the central claim of OSR as presented above implies any commitment to discernibility or the PII.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Entanglement Structure of Quantum Field Systems

Lam

2013

International Studies in the Philosophy of Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This essay considers the question of the ontology of relativistic quantum field theory (RQFT). It aims to discuss possible implications of the peculiarities of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within the algebraic approach to RQFT. Fundamental results such as the Reeh-Schlieder theorem do not only show that quantum entanglement is a truly central feature of RQFT, but also that quantum entanglement displays specific features that are absent at the level of quantum mechanics (QM). Although these technical results are well-known, their possible implications for the ontology of the theory have been surprisingly little discussed. In particular, I will consider how the board ontic structural realist understanding of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within QM naturally applies to RQFT and can contribute to the debate on the ontology of the theory. More generally, this essay aims to illustrate the relevance of the peculiar status of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within RQFT for the ontological debate.

show abstract

Ontic Structural Realism and the Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Ontic structural realism and the interpretation of quantum mechanics

Ontic structural realism and the interpretation of quantum mechanics

An ESR Framework for the Study of Consciousness

The Entanglement Structure of Quantum Field Systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About