QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

independently examine all the world’s objective processes without either changing them of
disturbing them. As will be presented later in Section 4.4.1. of this thesis, the Copenhagen
interpretation repudiates this ideal of objectivity which has been maintained in physics through
the whole of the modern era. In addition, the measurement problem, which is handled in Section
4.4.6., clearly indicates that humans must be thought of as both observers and actors in the
theatre of reality.
3.2. The Position of Humans in Mechanistic-deterministic Reality
Man’s relationship with nature can, in principle, be figured out in two ways. In one, nature can
be viewed as a larger whole to which humans belong and according to whose guiding principles
he must arrange his life. In the other, nature is seen as an opponent which humans must conquer,
tame and make into a servant. 281 In antique times, humans were viewed as a microcosm of an
obviously greater organised whole. In the Christian religion, people were also seen as part of a
cosmic order created by God, even though they were at the same time related to the rest of
creation and also seen as its rulers. This tendency to view nature as something that must be
controlled and made into a servant was reinforced by the new natural science and Cartesian
dualism.
In a certain way, the new image of humans indicated a belief in the omnipotence of human
capabilities. Humans were considered to be conscious thinking subjects, capable of measuring
and manipulating nature and responsible only to themselves independently of both nature and
God. By using intelligence, they were free to develop to ever higher levels, unfettered by
original sin or blind belief. On the other hand, the influence of the revolution in the image of
reality which occurred at the beginning of the modern era in connection with man’s
understanding of his own position resulted in a significant dichotomy. The more that man
struggled to free himself from nature by understanding and controlling its principles, the more he
became conscious that nature’s inevitable processes tied him to his earthly existence. As a result
of the advance of science, man’s belief in freedom was reduced, and in a way, he became
imprisoned within the mechanical image of nature he had created. Concurrent with the stripping
away of all significance and spirtiual dimensions of the world was the loss of humanity’s belief
in its own unique status. The “climax of creation” became nothing more than an animal resulting
281 von Wright 1987, 56-57.
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