The Philosophical and Scientific Metaphysics of David Bohm

Seager, William

doi:10.3390/e20070493

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…32 We are not interested in an exegetical discussion about the details of Bohm's metaphysical commitments, but rather the contemporary conception of the ontology of Bohmian mechanics. For a historical account, see Seager (2018). 33 Velocity is not an independent degree of freedom, since the Bohmian guiding law is a first order differential equation.…”

Section: Agential Realism and Quantum Mechanicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barad, Bohr, and quantum mechanics

Faye

Jaksland

2021

Synthese

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The last decade has seen an increasing number of references to quantum mechanics in the humanities and social sciences. This development has in particular been driven by Karen Barad’s agential realism: a theoretical framework that, based on Niels Bohr’s interpretation of quantum mechanics, aims to inform social theorizing. In dealing with notions such as agency, power, and embodiment as well as the relation between the material and the discursive level, the influence of agential realism in fields such as feminist science studies and posthumanism has been profound. However, no one has hitherto paused to assess agential realism’s proclaimed quantum mechanical origin including its relation to the writings of Niels Bohr. This is the task taken up here. We find that many of the implications that agential realism allegedly derives from a Bohrian interpretation of quantum mechanics dissent from Bohr’s own views and are in conflict with those of other interpretations of quantum mechanics. Agential realism is at best consistent with quantum mechanics and consequently, it does not capture what quantum mechanics in any strict sense implies for social science or any other domain of inquiry. Agential realism may be interesting and thought provoking from the perspective of social theorizing, but it is neither sanctioned by quantum mechanics nor by Bohr’s authority. This conclusion not only holds for agential realism in particular, it also serves as a general warning against the other attempts to use quantum mechanics in social theorizing.

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Section: Agential Realism and Quantum Mechanicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barad, Bohr, and quantum mechanics

Faye

Jaksland

2021

Synthese

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“…In such theories quantum mechanical analysis prescribes only some aspects of future events relating to the system, and the values of hidden variables provide a physical description of systems in isolation [25]. The term hidden is potentially misleading: the values of hidden variables are determinable in principle [53] and in practice [414], but are "hidden" from quantum mechanical prescription or control [ [219,417].…”

Section: De Broglie and Bohmian Theories: More Descriptive But No Lesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11][415]. Bohm, however, used the term quantum nonmechanics [387, § 2][416], emphasizing the non-classical nature of the dynamics [219,417].…”

Section: De Broglie and Bohmian Theories: More Descriptive But No Les...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding quantum mechanics: a review and synthesis in precise language

Drummond¹

2019

Open Physics

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This review, of the understanding of quantum mechanics, is broad in scope, and aims to reflect enough of the literature to be representative of the current state of the subject. To enhance clarity, the main findings are presented in the form of a coherent synthesis of the reviewed sources. The review highlights core characteristics of quantum mechanics. One is statistical balance in the collective response of an ensemble of identically prepared systems, to differing measurement types. Another is that states are mathematical terms prescribing probability aspects of future events, relating to an ensemble of systems, in various situations. These characteristics then yield helpful insights on entanglement, measurement, and widely-discussed experiments and analyses. The review concludes by considering how these insights are supported, illustrated and developed by some specific approaches to understanding quantum mechanics. The review uses non-mathematical language precisely (terms defined) and rigorously (consistent meanings), and uses only such language. A theory more descriptive of independent reality than is quantum mechanics may yet be possible. One step in the pursuit of such a theory is to reach greater consensus on how to understand quantum mechanics. This review aims to contribute to achieving that greater consensus, and so to that pursuit.

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“…William Seager provides a 21st century interpretation of the philosophy and scientific metaphysics of David Bohm [ 4 ]. Specifically, Seager examines three core features of Bohm’s foundational views, namely “the holistic nature of the world, the role of a unique kind of information as the ontological basis of the world, and the integration of mentality into this basis as an essential and irreducible aspect of it”.…”

Section: Quantum Ontology and Foundational Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergent Quantum Mechanics: David Bohm Centennial Perspectives

Walleczek¹,

Grössing

Pylkkänen

et al. 2019

Entropy

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Emergent quantum mechanics (EmQM) explores the possibility of an ontology for quantum mechanics. The resurgence of interest in realist approaches to quantum mechanics challenges the standard textbook view, which represents an operationalist approach. The possibility of an ontological, i.e., realist, quantum mechanics was first introduced with the original de Broglie–Bohm theory, which has also been developed in another context as Bohmian mechanics. This Editorial introduces a Special Issue featuring contributions which were invited as part of the David Bohm Centennial symposium of the EmQM conference series (www.emqm17.org). Questions directing the EmQM research agenda are: Is reality intrinsically random or fundamentally interconnected? Is the universe local or nonlocal? Might a radically new conception of reality include a form of quantum causality or quantum ontology? What is the role of the experimenter agent in ontological quantum mechanics? The Special Issue also includes research examining ontological propositions that are not based on the Bohm-type nonlocality. These include, for example, local, yet time-symmetric, ontologies, such as quantum models based upon retrocausality. This Editorial provides topical overviews of thirty-one contributions which are organized into seven categories to provide orientation.

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The Philosophical and Scientific Metaphysics of David Bohm

Cited by 14 publications

References 43 publications

Barad, Bohr, and quantum mechanics

Barad, Bohr, and quantum mechanics

Understanding quantum mechanics: a review and synthesis in precise language

Emergent Quantum Mechanics: David Bohm Centennial Perspectives

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