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Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science

‘Dialectical materialism and modern physics’, an unpublished text by Max Born

Olival Freire, Christoph Lehner

Published Apr 7, 2010• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract A previously unpublished manuscript by the physicist Max Born, one of the creators of quantum mechanics, is presented. The manuscript was addressed to Born's colleague Léon Rosenfeld and criticized his attempt to show that Niels Bohr's doctrine of complementarity was an example of dialectical materialism and as such in perfect agreement with Marxist philosophy. Besides illustrating the deep political divisions among defenders of the ‘Copenhagen spirit’ in quantum physics, the manuscript is also a valuable source illuminating Max Born's philosophical position about scientific methodology and epistemology.

DOI
10.1098/rsnr.2010.0012

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Abstract A previously unpublished manuscript by the physicist Max Born, one of the creators of quantum mechanics, is presented. The manuscript was addressed to Born's colleague Léon Rosenfeld and criticized his attempt to show that Niels Bohr's doctrine of complementarity was an example of dialectical materialism and as such in perfect agreement with Marxist philosophy. Besides illustrating the deep political divisions among defenders of the ‘Copenhagen spirit’ in quantum physics, the manuscript is also a valuable source illuminating Max Born's philosophical position about scientific methodology and epistemology.
The Belgian physicist Leeon (1904––1974) has been called clarifier of Niels Bohr's ideas in quantum mechanics. He had a unique connection to Bohr as his close collaborator from 1930 until Bohr died in 1962. However, although he is considered Bohr's spokesman, he had his own characteristic way of articulating Bohr's views. In particular, added a dialectical-materialist layer to Bohr's ideas in certain contexts. Despite Rosenfeld's open profession of Marxism, the literature has generally avoided discussing its relevance for his work and activities. This paper suggests some reasons why and investigates Rosenfeld's combination of Marxism and complementarity, which his colleague and friend Wolfgang Pauli metaphorically denoted by the equation Rosenfeld = √√Trotsky ×× Bohr. Rosenfeld's particular views appear anomalous to the frequently expressed stereotypes of both Marxism and complementarity. The paper concentrates on the role Marxist philosophy played in Rosenfeld's fierce defense of complementarity from the late 1940s through the 1950s and the reception his campaign was accorded at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and elsewhere.
Abstract This book tells the story of Bohm’s hitherto unpublished lecture notes on quantum theory and dialectical materialism. It places his lecture notes in a wider historical, scientific, and philosophical context and traces Bohm’s intellectual development from an early attempt to better understand the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics to his elaboration of an alternative causal interpretation based on the notion of “hidden variables.” As the lecture notes strikingly illustrate, dialectical materialism played a fundamental role in the further development of his understanding of quantum mechanics. Bohm placed the notions of the infinity of nature and the unity of opposites at the center of his natural philosophy, drawing from the works of Hegel, Marx, Engels, and Lenin. The book also examines Bohm’s legacy in the history of quantum mechanics and his contribution to preparing the “second quantum revolution.” Bohm’s engagement with dialectical materialism and his role as a dissident from the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics were pivotal in bringing about the novel insights and technologies associated with this second quantum revolution. During the 1960s, Bohm developed a growing interest in the nature of consciousness and engaged with the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. But this new phase in Bohm’s intellectual odyssey was, in spite of a seemingly fundamental break with earlier philosophical positions, not completely unrelated to his fascination with, and deep understanding of, Hegel’s philosophy, which the lecture notes amply document for the first time.
This is the story of David Bohm's hitherto unpublished notes, uncovered from a series of lectures given in Israel in 1957 to a group of Marxist physicists from the Hashomer Hatsair (young guard) movement. The notes explore quantum theory and dialectical materialism, as well as shedding light on the intellectual and emotional resources of his persistent rebellion against orthodoxies in science. The discussion places his lectures notes in a wider historical, scientific, and philosophical context and traces Bohm's intellectual development from an early attempt to better understand the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics to his elaboration of an alternative causal interpretation based on the notion of "hidden variables." As the lecture notes strikingly illustrate, dialectical materialism played a fundamental role for the further development of his understanding of quantum mechanics. Bohm placed the notions of infinity of nature and the unity of opposites in the center of his natural philosophy, drawing from the works of Hegel, Marx, Engels, and Lenin. The authors also examine Bohm's legacy in the history of quantum mechanics and his contribution to preparing the "second quantum revolution." Bohm's engagement with dialectical materialism and his role as a dissident to the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics were pivotal in bringing about the novel insights and technologies associated with this second quantum revolution. During the 1960s, Bohm developed a growing interest in the nature of consciousness and engaged with the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. In spite of a seemingly fundamental break with earlier philosophical positions, this new phase in Bohm's intellectual odyssey was not completely unrelated to his fascination with and deep understanding of Hegel's philosophy, which the lecture notes amply document for the first time.
Niels Bohr and the 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 Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is usually called standard because it is presented in the basic textbooks on the field. In the USSR this inter­pretation was treated from the point of view of the philosophy of dialectic mate­rialism, which was taken as the state ideology. This treatment was oscillated from negative and rejecting of definitely positive. The Copenhagen interpreta­tion has been rejected by the Marxist philosopher A. Maximov, it was severely criticized by the physicist D. Blohintsev, who supported the ensemble approach to quantum mechanics, it was adopted by the mathematician-physicist V. Fock, who proposed some corrections and reservations to it. The Soviet ideology was not completely homogeneous and stable. From the very beginning it contained the philosophy of activity which was something like the “shadow component”. By accepting the philosophy of activity the physicist M. Markov provided the authentic presentation of the Copenhagen interpretation in 1947. In 1980 the philosophy of activity became popular among Russian intellectuals, and the philosopher I. Alexeev published the detailed presentation of the Copenhagen interpretation by treating it as methodologically productive.