The task of quantizing general relativity raises serious questions about the meaning of the present formulation and interpretation of quantum mechanics when applied to so fundamental a structure as the space-time geometry itself. This paper seeks to clarify the foundations of quantum mechanics. It presents a reformulation of quantum theory in a form believed suitable for application to general relativity. The aim is not to deny or contradict the conventional formulation of quantum theory, which has demonstrated its usefulness in an overwhelming variety of problems, but rather to supply a new, more general and complete formulation, from which the conventional interpretation can be deduced. The relationship of this new formulation to the older formulation is therefore that of a metatheory to a theory, that is, it is an underlying theory in which the nature and consistency, as well as the realm of applicability, of the older theory can be investigated and clarified.

"relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics

Aspects of Scientific Explanation: and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Science

We present an elementary proof of the quantum de Finetti representation theorem, a quantum analog of de Finetti’s classical theorem on exchangeable probability assignments. This contrasts with the original proof of Hudson and Moody [Z. Wahrschein. verw. Geb. 33, 343 (1976)], which relies on advanced mathematics and does not share the same potential for generalization. The classical de Finetti theorem provides an operational definition of the concept of an unknown probability in Bayesian probability theory, where probabilities are taken to be degrees of belief instead of objective states of nature. The quantum de Finetti theorem, in a closely analogous fashion, deals with exchangeable density-operator assignments and provides an operational definition of the concept of an “unknown quantum state” in quantum-state tomography. This result is especially important for information-based interpretations of quantum mechanics, where quantum states, like probabilities, are taken to be states of knowledge rather than...

Unknown Quantum States: The Quantum de Finetti Representation

Mind in a Physical World

I argue that our current practice of ascribing the term 'memory' to mental states and processes lacks epistemic warrant. Memory, according to the 'received view', is any state or process that results from the sequential stages of encoding, storage, and retrieval. By these criteria, memory, or its footprint, can be seen in virtually every mental state we are capable of having. This, I argue, stretches the term to the breaking point. I draw on phenomenological, historical, and conceptual considerations to make the case that an act of memory entails a direct, non-inferential feeling of reacquaintance with one's past. It does so by linking content retrieved from storage with autonoetic awareness during retrieval. On this view, memory is not the content of experience, but the manner in which that content is experienced. I discuss some theoretical and practical implications and advantages of adopting this more circumscribed view of memory.

What memory is.

Preface. Introduction. Bohr's Response to EPR M. Beller, A. Fine. Niels Bohr's Words and the Atlantis of Kantianism C. Chevalley. A Bohmian Response to Bohr's Complementarity J.T. Cushing. Niels Bohr and Realism D. Favrholdt. Non-Locality or Non-Separability? A Defense of Niels Bohr's Anti-Realist Approach to Quantum Mechanics J. Faye. Bohr's Framework of Complementarity and the Realism Debate H.J. Folse. Description and Deconstruction: Niels Bohr and Modern Philosophy J. Honner. Bohr and the Crisis of Empirical Intelligibility: an Essay on the Depth of Bohr's Thought and our Philosophical Ignorance C.A. Hooker. What Makes a Classical Concept Classical? Toward a Reconstruction of Niels Bohr's Philosophy of Physics D. Howard. Niels Bohr's Argument for the Irreducibility of Biology to Physics P. Hoyningen-Huene. Niels Bohr's Conceptual Legacy in Contemporary Particle Physics D. Kaiser. A Critique of Bohr's Local Realism H. Krips. Bohr and the Realism Debates E. MacKinnon. The Bohr--Einstein Dispute D. Murdoch. Hidden Historicity: the Challenge of Bohr's Philosophical Thought U. Roseberg. Quantum Theory and the Place of Mind in Nature H.P. Stapp. References. Name Index.

Niels Bohr and contemporary philosophy

Niels Bohr: His Heritage and Legacy

I: Hoffding as Mentor.- I.- 1. Harald Hoffding, His Life and Thought.- 2. Hoffding and Bohr Senior.- II.- 1. The Ekliptika Circle.- 2. Bohr and William James.- 3. Bohr and Kierkegaard.- 4. The Student Bohr on Formal Logic.- III.- 1. The Friendship.- 2. The Years Around 1927.- 3. Hoffding on Complementarity.- IV.- 1. Hoffding's Theory of Knowledge.- 2. Totality as a Category.- 3. Hoffding's Philosophy of Mind and Psychology of Free Will.- 4. Hoffding on Biology.- 5. Analogy and Scientific Progress.- II: Bohr and the Atomic Description of Nature.- V.- 1. The Principle of Correspondence.- 2. The Search for an Interpretation.- VI.- 1. Complementarity.- 2. Quantum Mechanics and Psychology.- 3. Bohr on Biology.- VII.- 1. The Objectivity of Knowledge.- 2. The EPR Discussion.- 3. The Conditions for Description.- VIII.- 1. Bohr and Realism.- 2. Hoffding on Reality.- 3. Objective Anti-Realism.- Epilogue: The Legacy.- Notes.

Jan Faye

Papers

Niels Bohr and contemporary philosophy

Niels Bohr: His Heritage and Legacy

Niels Bohr: His Heritage and Legacy: An Anti-Realist View of Quantum Mechanics

The reality of the future

The Nature of Scientific Thinking