QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

concretely understood.
If someone does not, because of the advent of quantum mechanics, wish to abandon the familiar
metaphysics which is taken as self-evident, no-one and nothing can force them to do so. Our
experiments at the normal macroscopic level do not appear to offer tools for an intuitive
understanding of the portrayal of the world of quantum mechanics, and because of their long
history, the assumptions of classical physics concerning reality appeal to our common sense.
When examining the discussion concerning the interpretation of quantum mechanics from a
historical perspective, it is however surprising that the metaphysical assumptions involved are
not discussed in a clearer, more explicit manner. In spite of the almost complete change in the
concept of matter, discussion concerning the interpretation of quantum mechanics has not dealt
to any great extent with the nature of objects and their properties, or the relationship of humans
and their language to these. Even the Copenhagen group did not present the ontological,
epistemological and cosmological origins or consequences of their interpretation of quantum
mechanics in a particularly clear manner.
Even though fundamental metaphysical assumptions are difficult to verify directly in an
experimental manner, they are neither arbitrary nor inconsequential. The roots of science lie in
metaphysics. The relative infrequency of philosophically ambitious attempts at interpretation
should not however be surprising, since familiarity with either metaphysics or the history of
natural philosophy is seldom connected with the use of quantum mechanics and a good
command of formalism. In-depth and wide ranging interpretations are unlikely to result without
sufficient background material. It is however surprising that in their discussions of the
interpretation of quantum mechanics, physicists have, in addition to traditional material causes,
also begun to make reference to human consciousness. The most interesting task employing
quantum theory has been the search for new ways of thinking which would allow the
transcending of Cartesian substance dualism.
4.3.5. The concept of consciousness in discussions concerning the interpretation of quantum
mechanics
The concept of consciousness entered the vocabulary of physics in the 1920s as a result of the
quantum mechanics measurement problem when John von Neumann, an eminent Hungarian
251