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Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Van Fraassen's Interpretative Viewpoints of Quantum Theory

Wan Xiao-long

Published Jan 1, 2002• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

B.C.Van Fraassen's interpretative theory of quantum measurement is not only the core of his philosophy of quantum mechanics, but also the theoretical foundation in his philosophy of science, constructive experimentalism. In this article, the author introduces Van Fraassen's thought from three aspects: the general interpretation theory of science, the interpretation problems in quantum mechanics, and the modal interpretation of quantum measurement.

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B.C.Van Fraassen's interpretative theory of quantum measurement is not only the core of his philosophy of quantum mechanics, but also the theoretical foundation in his philosophy of science, constructive experimentalism. In this article, the author introduces Van Fraassen's thought from three aspects: the general interpretation theory of science, the interpretation problems in quantum mechanics, and the modal interpretation of quantum measurement.
Bas van Fraassen in [4] has recently tried to use modal logic to solve the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. His model is based on a method of expressing quantum states developed by Hugh Everett [1] called the “relative state formulation.” Unfortunately, Everett's mathematics cannot be generalized as van Fraassen requires. The difficulty itself is elementary enough. But a revision of van Fraassen's postulates (such as the one he adopted on p. 341 after he had been told of the problem) can save the mathematics only on pain of making the whole study irrelevant to the physics. I shall explain the dilemma in this note. In a later paper [5], van Fraassen avoids this dilemma by developing an abstract modal interpretation which does not rely on any expression for quantum states.
Van Fraassen's modal interpretation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics is articulated to support an anti-realist account of quantum theory. However, given the particular form of van Fraassen's anti-realism (constructive empiricism), two problems arise when we try to make it compatible with the modal interpretation: one difficulty concerns the tension between the need for modal operators in the modal interpretation and van Fraassen's skepticism regarding real modality in nature; another addresses the need for the truth predicate in the modal interpretation and van Fraassen's rejection of truth as the aim of science. After examining these two problems, I suggest a formal framework in which they can be accommodated – using da Costa and French's partial structures approach – and indicate a variant of van Fraassen's modal interpretation that does not face these difficulties. Quanta 2014; 3: 1–15.
This book is about how to understand quantum mechanics by means of a modal interpretation. Modal interpretations provide a general framework within which quantum mechanics can be considered as a theory that describes reality in terms of physical systems possessing definite properties. Quantum mechanics is standardly understood to be a theory about probabilities with which measurements have outcomes. Modal interpretations are relatively new attempts to present quantum mechanics as a theory which, like other physical theories, describes an observer-independent reality. In this book, Pieter Vermaas summarises the results of this work. The book will be of great value to undergraduates, graduate students and researchers in philosophy of science, and physics departments with an interest in learning about modal interpretations of quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics is a paradigmatic example of a scientific theory seemingly demanding ‘an interpretation’. What is it to ‘interpret’ a physical theory? Bas van Fraassen has recently argued that the attitude towards the task of interpreting science can be used to demarcate two otherwise similar epistemic stances: empiricism and naturalism. He claims that while empiricists are committed to the task of interpretation, naturalists cannot make sense of interpretation from outside the scientific theory. Naturalists, it seems, would have to be quietists about interpretation. Chapter 6 investigates in what form, if any, naturalists can make sense of the task of interpretation in the case of quantum mechanics. Doing so will shed light on the question whether interpretation of physical theories is a distinctively philosophical task, and what its purpose might be. It suggests that the aim of interpreting theories is to enhance our understanding, and that this task is not exclusively philosophical.