British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 61 (4):697-727 (2010)
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Abstract |
What ontology does realism about the quantum state suggest? The main extant view in contemporary philosophy of physics is wave-function realism . We elaborate the sense in which wave-function realism does provide an ontological picture, and defend it from certain objections that have been raised against it. However, there are good reasons to be dissatisfied with wave-function realism, as we go on to elaborate. This motivates the development of an opposing picture: what we call spacetime state realism , a view which takes the states associated to spacetime regions as fundamental. This approach enjoys a number of beneficial features, although, unlike wave-function realism, it involves non-separability at the level of fundamental ontology. We investigate the pros and cons of this non-separability, arguing that it is a quite acceptable feature, even one which proves fruitful in the context of relativistic covariance. A companion paper discusses the prospects for combining a spacetime-based ontology with separability, along lines suggested by Deutsch and Hayden
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Reprint years | 2010 |
DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axq010 |
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References found in this work BETA
Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics: Collected Papers on Quantum Philosophy.John Stewart Bell - 2004 - Cambridge University Press.
Elementary Quantum Metaphysics.David Albert - 1996 - In J. T. Cushing, Arthur Fine & Sheldon Goldstein (eds.), Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum theory: An Appraisal. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 277-284.
Physical Relativity: Space–Time Structure From a Dynamical Perspective.Harvey Brown - 2005 - Philosophy 82 (321):498-503.
View all 25 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Quantum holism: nonseparability as common ground.Jenann Ismael & Jonathan Schaffer - 2020 - Synthese 197 (10):4131-4160.
Building the World From its Fundamental Constituents.L. A. Paul - 2012 - Philosophical Studies 158 (2):221-256.
Quantum Mechanics in a Time-Asymmetric Universe: On the Nature of the Initial Quantum State.Eddy Keming Chen - 2021 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 72 (4):1155–1183.
View all 84 citations / Add more citations
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