Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Wave-particle duality
- 2 Niels Bohr and wave-particle duality
- 3 From duality to complementarity
- 4 The meaning of complementarity
- 5 The foundations of kinematic-dynamic complementarity
- 6 Bohr's theory of measurement
- 7 Bohr's theory of properties
- 8 Einstein versus Bohr
- 9 The sequel to the Bohr-Einstein debate
- 10 Bohr's philosophy of physics
- 11 An appraisal of Bohr's philosophy of physics
- Notes
- Index
10 - Bohr's philosophy of physics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Wave-particle duality
- 2 Niels Bohr and wave-particle duality
- 3 From duality to complementarity
- 4 The meaning of complementarity
- 5 The foundations of kinematic-dynamic complementarity
- 6 Bohr's theory of measurement
- 7 Bohr's theory of properties
- 8 Einstein versus Bohr
- 9 The sequel to the Bohr-Einstein debate
- 10 Bohr's philosophy of physics
- 11 An appraisal of Bohr's philosophy of physics
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Now that Bohr's philosophy of quantum physics has been surveyed in detail, it is time to provide a general description of his philosophy that illuminates the details. The question which I wish to address, then is: what is the general philosophy, or philosophical point of view, that underlies Bohr's philosophy of physics? Can his philosophy be neatly categorised in terms of any well known philosophical position? Apropos his philosophy of physics in particular, the question of primary interest is: to what extent, if any, is Bohr's philosophy of physics realist? No simple answer to this question can be given: indeed, certain realist and non-realist components are subtly interwoven in his philosophy, and to unravel them we shall need a fairly refined conception of what constitutes a realist interpretation of physics.
Realism in the interpretation of physics
The basis of realism is the view that statements of a certain class predicate properties of real objects, the truth-values of these statements being determined by reality as it is independently of how it appears to us to be. This notion is captured in the following characterisation of what constitutes the adoption of a realist interpretation of a physical theory.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Niels Bohr's Philosophy of Physics , pp. 200 - 235Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1987