QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

philosophical matters was more difficult to capture in written form. Bohr wrote, or more often
dictated, his texts many times. The statements resulting from this endless polishing and finishing
are reminiscent of tiny universes of meaning which attempted to say everything at one and the
same time. 609 In particular, the process of writing the Como lecture, in which Bohr first
published his thoughts on complementarity, was long and painful. He never wrote a complete
book, but presented his philosophical thoughts in condensed essays and public lectures which
were later collected into three different volumes. In these, the same subjects were handled over
and over again from slightly differing viewpoints. The following paragraphs are a collection of
Bohr’s thoughts on language and complementarity based on his own texts.
The character of language
A subject to which Bohr paid considerable attention was the extent to which humans are bound
to language in their search for knowledge. In particular, he searched for an answer to the
question of why describing observed phenomena using classical concepts 610 led to the use of
descriptions which appeared contradictory, even though, since consistent mathematical theory
guaranteed the consistency of the portrayal of quanta, no real incompatibility could in fact exist.
Bohr understood language as a means to approach and analyse nature and our experiences of it
which had evolved over time. With the help of language, we are able to orient ourselves to our
environment. 611 Words entrap us, but they are at the same time a network with which we can aim
at achieving an ever-clearer picture of the world and our place in it. It is my opinion that
language can also, according to Bohr, be considered to be a kind of theory of the world. It works
because it is anchored to our everyday experience. On the other hand, the language we use also
implies a familiar macroscopic world. It tacitly incorporates everyday assumptions about the
nature of the world which suit the macroscopic environment we are living in, such as, for
example, the assumption that the world consists of isolated objects and the drawing of a clear
distinction between subject and object.
The image of reality offered by classical mechanics appeared rational as it was based on the
well-defined and idealised use of concepts and pictures which were familiar from everyday life.
The new physics has, however, extended the coverage of these concepts well outside the region
608
Bohr 1963, 2, 10.
609
Nörretranders 1991, 225.
610
By “classical concepts”, Bohr means the intuitively-understandable concepts used both in ordinary language and
in classical physics.
611
Bohr 1948, 88.
229