QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

3.4.4. The metaphysical foundation of theoretical constructions
By metaphysics, Aristotle meant that which lies behind physics, the general principles that
physics does not reach. Nowadays, the term is generally used to refer to such presuppositions,
beliefs and theories that cannot be verified through scientific research or sense perception. 398 The
meaning and significance of the term ”metaphysics” does however vary from individual to
individual. For example, the physicist Victor J. Stenger, a vehement defender of locality in
quantum mechanics who has rejected the possibility of there being any real problem in the
interpretation of quantum theory, understands metaphysics to imply that behind the
imperfections of the material world there is some kind of perfect world. ”In religious terms
heaven, the domain of the spirit, in western philosophy, Plato’s world.” 399 By allocating
metaphysics such a restricted role, Stenger is incapable of seeing the metaphysical basis of his
own arguments, even though his position is based on it.
To some extent, physicists’ ignorance of metaphysics is understandable, since its significance
has been undervalued in both the scientific tradition and in philosophy. The most-recent attempt
to escape from metaphysics culminated in Verificationist positivism, which denied that there was
any need for it. Nowadays, according to Galen Strawson, the most common form of the delusion
is to think that one can be free of both metaphysics and Positivism by admitting that one is a
hard-nosed Materialist. This is, however, a metaphysical position if it is supposed that sense
perceptions or reality exist. ”As soon as one admits that something exists, one has to admit that
it has some nature or other – or one has to admit that one can be wrong about its nature, in which
case there are various metaphysical possibilities, even if one can never know for sure which is
correct.” 400
Even though Positivism shook the foundation of metaphysics, on which it had rested during the
golden age of German idealism, predictions of its demise have proven to be wishful thinking.
Metaphysics has been defended by many thinkers who are also masters of the precise language
of science. One of first such individuals was R.H. Lotze (1817-1881), who attempted to adapt the
mechanistic explanations of nature to research into physiology and mental phenomena. In his
397 Nagel 1961, 280.
398 Trusted 1991, ix.
399 Stenger 1995, 7.
400 Strawson 1994, 78-79.
150