The philosophy of quantum mechanics : the interpretations of quantum mechanics in historical perspective

Michele Caponigro

Max Jammer

In the early 1970s, physicist and philosopher of physics Max Jammer began working on a follow up to his classic 1966 book, The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics. Jammer hoped that the new book, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: The Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics in Historical Perspective (1974), could contain some additional information on the Hugh Everett interpretation. Here he writes to Everett with some questions concerning Everett's intellectual development and the historical context in which Everett developed his interpretation.

Jan Faye, Henry J. Folse

Niels Bohr and Philosophy of Physics: Twenty-First Century Perspectives examines the philosophical views, influences and legacy of the Nobel Prize physicist and philosophical spokesman of the quantum revolution, Niels Bohr. The sixteen contributions in this collection by some of the best contemporary philosophers and physicists writing on Bohr's philosophy today all carefully distinguish his subtle and unique interpretation of quantum mechanics from views often imputed to him under the banner of the “Copenhagen Interpretation.” With respect to philosophical influences on Bohr's outlook, the contributors analyse prominent similarities between his viewpoint and Kantian ways of thinking, the views of the Danish philosopher Harald Høffding, and themes characteristic of American pragmatism. In recognizing the importance of Bohr's epistemological naturalism they examine his defence of the indispensability of classical concepts from a variety of different perspectives. This collection shows us that Bohr's interpretation of quantum mechanics, now nearly a century old, still has the power to shed light on a variety of issues that have arisen only since his lifetime, as well as decoherence theory and other non-collapse interpretations. Balancing historical themes with contemporary discussions, Niels Bohr and the Philosophy of Physics establishes Bohr's on-going contribution to the philosophy of physics and examines his place in the history of philosophy.

D. I. Blokhint︠s︡ev

Hugh Everett

In the early 1970s, physicist and philosopher of physics Max Jammer began working on a follow up to his classic 1966 book, The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics. Jammer hoped that the new book, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: The Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics in Historical Perspective (1974), could contain some additional information on the Hugh Everett interpretation. He wrote to Everett of August of 1973; here, Everett responds in some detail to Jammer's questions about his intellectual development and the origins of his thesis.