Darwinism in disguise? A comparison between Bohr's view on quantum mechanics and QBism
Author(s) -
Jan Faye
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
philosophical transactions of the royal society a mathematical physical and engineering sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.074
H-Index - 169
eISSN - 1471-2962
pISSN - 1364-503X
DOI - 10.1098/rsta.2015.0236
Subject(s) - copenhagen interpretation , bohr model , interpretations of quantum mechanics , interpretation (philosophy) , epistemology , minority interpretations of quantum mechanics , theoretical physics , philosophy , darwinism , relational quantum mechanics , philosophy of science , darwin (adl) , quantum mechanics , quantum , physics , computer science , quantum dynamics , quantum process , linguistics , software engineering
The Copenhagen interpretation is first and foremost associated with Niels Bohr's philosophy of quantum mechanics. In this paper, I attempt to lay out what I see as Bohr's pragmatic approach to science in general and to quantum physics in particular. A part of this approach is his claim that the classical concepts are indispensable for our understanding of all physical phenomena, and it seems as if the claim is grounded in his reflection upon how the evolution of language is adapted to experience. Another, recent interpretation, QBism, has also found support in Darwin's theory. It may therefore not be surprising that sometimes QBism is said to be of the same breed as the Copenhagen interpretation. By comparing the two interpretations, I conclude, nevertheless, that there are important differences.
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