Table Of ContentHernan Pringe
Critique of the Quantum Power of Judgment
w
DE
G
Kantstudien
Ergänzungshefte
im Auftrage der Kant-Gesellschaft
herausgegeben von
Gerhard Funke, Manfred Baum, Bernd Dörflinger
und Thomas M. Seebohm
154
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Hernan Pringe
Critique of the Quantum Power
of Judgment
A Transcendental Foundation
of Quantum Objectivity
Walter de Gruyter • Berlin · New York
© Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines
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ISSN 0340-6059
ISBN 978-3-11-019611-5
Dissertation (University of Dortmund)
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"All sciences in which reason is employed have their
metaphysics."
Kant (AA XVIII, p. 326)
Acknowledgments
The project of studying the relationship between transcendental
philosophy and quantum theory first arose during regular meetings
with Mario Caimi in Buenos Aires almost ten years ago. He has guided
me through the labyrinth of Kant's thought with the admirable insight of
one who knows what questions may reasonably be asked. For his
teachings I shall always be indebted.
Brigitte Falkenburg gave me the possibility of carrying out my project
under her supervision in Dortmund. Thanks to her advice, I soon realized
that Bohr's ideas were the link that would allow me to connect Kant's
philosophy with quantum physics. She has introduced me to the field of
philosophy of science under the firm conviction that science is possible
only due to metaphysical presuppositions. I follow her along this path.
She has believed in me from the very beginning and has promoted my
investigation by providing me with support and freedom in the right
proportions. To her I am deeply grateful.
The work of Michel Bitbol has had a strong influence on me, as well
as the ideas discussed in seminars and lectures by Klaus Diising in
Cologne, Michael Drieschner and Helmut Pulte in Bochum, and
Manfred Baum in Wuppertal. Manfred Baum, Reiner Hedrich, Friedrich
Rapp and Wolfgang Rhode have made valuable comments on early
versions of my manuscript.
Florian Braun, Tobias Fox and Nico Naeve have accompanied me
during my years in Dortmund. With them I have shared discussions,
reading sessions, seminars and teaching duties, which have significantly
contributed to my investigation. For this, but, above all, for their true
friendship I would like to thank them here.
My investigation and the publication of this book have been
generously supported by the German Academic Exchange Service
(DAAD). The last version of the manuscript was written at the Center
for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. At the Center I
have found the ideal environment to complete my work. In this regard, I
would like to thank John Norton and Karen Kovalchick. Bradley Wilson
has carefully read the definitive version of this work. I very much
VIII Acknowledgments
appreciate his help. I would also like to thank the editors for their
acceptance of the book in this series.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents,
Humberto and Beatriz, and my sister Carina for their love and constant
encouragement from a distance.
Pittsburgh, May 2007
Contents
Introduction 1
Part I Kantian Preliminaries 9
1 Kant on the Concepts of Analogy and Symbol 11
1.1 Analogies of Experience 13
1.1.1 A Priori and A Posteriori Analogies 19
1.2 Symbolic Analogies 22
1.2.1 Symbolic Analogies and the Ideas of Reason 24
1.2.2 Symbolic Analogies and the System of Empirical
Laws of Nature 35
1.2.3 Symbolic Analogies and Organisms 38
1.2.4 Symbolic Analogies as Regulative of Possible
Experience 43
1.3 Conclusions 44
Part II The Conceptual Development of Bohr's Thought. 47
2 Correspondence 49
2.1 The Germ of Correspondence: The Hydrogen Atom .... 49
2.2 The Development of Correspondence: Multiperiodic
Systems 57
2.3 The Crisis of Correspondence: The Bohr-Kramers-Slater
Theory 64
2.4 Conclusions 71
3 Complementarity 75
3.1 Quantum Objects Are Not Directly Presentable in Intuition 76
3.2 Quantum Objects Are Indirectly Presentable in Intuition . 79
3.3 Uncertainty Relations, Complementarity and Symbolism . 81
3.4 Measurement and Definition 88
3.5 Matrix and Wave Mechanics 93
3.6 Conclusions 96
χ Contents
4 The Symbolic Character of Quantum Theory and the EPR
Paper 99
4.1 The EPR Argument 99
4.2 The Insufficiency of Operationalism 102
4.3 An Example: A Position Measurement 104
4.4 The Ambiguity of EPRs Realism 108
4.5 Bohr s Criterion of Reality 110
4.6 Objective Validity and Objective Reality of the Concept of a
Quantum Object 117
4.7 The Completeness of Quantum Theory 120
4.8 Conclusions 121
5. Between Kant and Bohr: Harald Hoffding 124
5.1 Bohr on Symbolic Knowledge 124
5.2 Symbol in the Broad Sense 128
5.3 Symbol in the Strict Sense 132
5.4 Conclusions 139
Part III A Transcendental Foundation of Quantum
Objectivity 141
6 Critique of the Quantum Power of Judgment 143
6.1 Analytic of the Quantum Power of Judgment 146
6.1.1 The Quantum Postulate and the Limits of
Mechanical Explanation 146
6.1.2 Logical and Transcendental Systematicity in the
Quantum Realm 150
6.1.3 Quantum Objectivity and the Application of the
Principle of Systematicity 153
6.1.4 On the Compatibility between Classical and
Quantum Causality 156
6.1.5 Contextual and Metacontextual Causality 160
6.1.6 The Quantum Power of Judgment and its Maxims 162
6.1.7 Teleological and Quantum Power of Judgment ... 164
6.1.8 Purposiveness and Probability 168
6.1.9 Appendix: The Analysis of Particle-Tracks 170
6.2 Dialectic of the Quantum Power of Judgment 173
6.2.1 The Antinomy of the Quantum Power of Judgment 173
6.2.2 Idealism and Realism of Quantum Objects 174
