Article ID: CBB001201240

Pragmatism, Bohr, and the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (2013)

unapi

In this article, we argue that although Bohr's version of the Copenhagen interpretation is in line with several key elements of logical positivism, pragmatism is the closest approximation to a classification of the Copenhagen interpretation, whether or not pragmatists directly influenced the key figures of the interpretation. Pragmatism already encompasses important elements of operationalism and logical positivism, especially the liberalized Carnapian reading of logical positivism. We suggest that some elements of the Copenhagen interpretation, which are in line with logical positivism, are also supported by pragmatism. Some of these elements are empirical realism, fallibilism, holism, and instrumentalism. However, pragmatism goes beyond logical positivism in espousing some other key elements of the Copenhagen interpretation, though imperfectly, such as the correspondence principle, complementarity, and indeterminism.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001201240/

Similar Citations

Book Camilleri, Kristian; (2009)
Heisenberg and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: The Physicist as Philosopher (/isis/citation/CBB000951622/)

Article Jan Faye; Rasmus Jaksland; (2021)
What Bohr wanted Carnap to learn from quantum mechanics (/isis/citation/CBB067212277/)

Article Beller, Mara; (1996)
The rhetoric of antirealism and the Copenhagen spirit (/isis/citation/CBB000069869/)

Article Duncan, Anthony; Janssen, Michel; (2008)
Pascual Jordan's Resolution of the Conundrum of the Wave-Particle Duality of Light (/isis/citation/CBB000933674/)

Article Singh, Rajinder; Riess, Falk; (2012)
Belated Nobel Prize for Max Born FRS (/isis/citation/CBB001253119/)

Article Camilleri, Kristian; (2006)
Heisenberg and the Wave-Particle Duality (/isis/citation/CBB000670175/)

Article Rigden, John S.; Stuewer, Roger H.; (2012)
Understanding of Quantum Mechanics Eludes Physicists for Eighty-Six Years (/isis/citation/CBB001221642/)

Thesis James A. Hutson; (2016)
Pragmatic Positivism: Werner Heisenberg's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics (/isis/citation/CBB574564994/)

Article Duncan, Anthony; Janssen, Michel; (2007)
On the Verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the Correspondence Principle. Part One. (/isis/citation/CBB000773023/)

Article Camilleri, Kristian; (2007)
Bohr, Heisenberg and the Divergent Views of Complementarity (/isis/citation/CBB000701043/)

Article Hilgevoord, Jan; (2005)
Time in Quantum Mechanics: A Story of Confusion (/isis/citation/CBB000501568/)

Article Brown, Paul Tolliver; (2009)
Relativity, Quantum Physics, and Consciousness in Virginia Woolf's “To the Lighthouse” (/isis/citation/CBB001320696/)

Article Giuseppina D'Oro; (2015)
Unlikely Bedfellows? Collingwood, Carnap and the Internal/External Distinction (/isis/citation/CBB326639460/)

Thesis Diamond, Ethel; (2006)
The Role of Philosophy in the Conceptual Development of Quantum Physics (/isis/citation/CBB001560852/)

Book Patrick Aidan Heelan; (2015)
The Observable: Heisenberg's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics (/isis/citation/CBB732754130/)

Book Stenholm, Stig; (2011)
The Quest for Reality: Bohr and Wittgenstein: Two Complementary Views (/isis/citation/CBB001500296/)

Authors & Contributors
Camilleri, Kristian
Janssen, Michel
Duncan, Anthony
D’Oro, Giuseppina
Adrien Vila Valls
Patrick Aidan Heelan
Concepts
Quantum mechanics
Physics
Philosophy of science
Positivism
Theoretical physics
Complementarity
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century
19th century
Places
Italy
France
Great Britain
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment