A physicist's view of the universe is largely derived from Aristotle's natural philosophy of seeking the patterns observed in nature. This view has matured over the years through the development of quantitative experimentation and the mathematical formulation of theories. However, one part of natural philosophy that has remained the province of philosophy, rather than science, is the nature of observation itself: what is the meaning of our awareness, our sensations, and ourselves?
A physicist's view of the universe is largely derived from Aristotle's natural philosophy of seeking the patterns observed in nature. This view has matured over the years through the development of quantitative experimentation and the mathematical formulation of theories. However, one part of natural philosophy that has remained the province of philosophy, rather than science, is the nature of observation itself: what is the meaning of our awareness, our sensations, and ourselves?
All men by nature desire to know, states Aristotle in the famous first sentence of his Metaphysics. Knowledge about fundamental particles and interactions, that is, knowledge about the deepest aspects of matter, is certainly high if not top on the priority list, not only for physicists and philosophers. The goal of the present book is to contribute to this knowledge by going beyond the usual presentations of quantum field theory in physics textbooks, both in mathematical approach and by critical reflections inspired by epistemology, that is, by the branch of philosophy also referred to as the theory of knowledge. Hopefully, the present book motivates physicists to appreciate philosophical ideas. Epistemology and the philosophy of the evolution of science often seem to lag behind science and to describe the developments a posteriori. As philosophy here has a profound influence on the actual shaping of an image of fundamental particles and their interactions, our development should stimulate the curiosity and imagination of physicists. This book can be used as a textbook on quantum field theory for students of physics or as a monograph for philosophers and physicists interested in the epistemological foundations of particle physics. The benefits of an approach resting on philosophical foundations is twofold: the reader is stimulated to critical thinking and the entire story flows very naturally, thus removing all the mysteries from quantum field theory.
Both science and philosophy have been characterized as seeking to understand the nature of reality. They are sometimes even pitted against each other, suggesting that the success of science undermines the relevance of philosophy. But attending to the sort of understanding or explanation being sought offers a different picture: contemporary physics as practiced sometimes fails to provide a clear physical account of the world. This lies at the root of the dissatisfaction with standard quantum theory expressed by Einstein, Schrödinger, and John Bell. As an example, close consideration of Schrödinger's famous cat example suggests that physicists often have missed his point. What a philosophical disposition can contribute is not alternative physics, but rather the sort of careful attention to argument needed to extract a physical picture from a mathematical formalism.
What quantum theory has revealed about the nature of reality has remained hidden in plain sight for almost one-hundred years because what quantum theory has revealed about the nature of reality cannot be comprehended in the context of the materialist model and conception of reality in which science presently operates, which materialist model places physical reality at the center of reality and Consciousness at the periphery, as a secondary or derivative reality. What this work will demonstrate, by explaining the heretofore inexplicable basis of the phenomena that lie at the heart of quantum theory, is that it is Consciousness rather than physical reality that lies at the center of reality, and that it is physical reality rather than Consciousness that is a secondary or derivative reality. Specifically, wave-particle duality, quantum uncertainty, quantum non-locality, the probabilistic nature of the wavefunction, and the collapse of the wavefunction, will all be shown to be phenomena that have as their basis the way in which the fundamental Reality of Consciousness, through relation to Itself, creates what it apprehends as physical reality.One of the most important things the phenomena that lie at the heart of quantum theory will be shown to reveal about the nature of reality is that the nature of physical reality is like that of a reflection, and like a reflection, physical reality is able to obscure from view what is actually there, as long as it is mistaken for what is actually there. Thus, in revealing the reflection-like nature of physical reality, the phenomena that lie at the heart of quantum theory indirectly reveal that what is actually there, underlying the reflection that is physical reality, is the non-physical, non-experiential Reality of Consciousness that is, through relation to Itself, both creating and apprehending experiential reality in general and physical reality in particular. Ultimately, understanding the reflection-like nature of physical reality should make it possible for Individuals to understand that what actually Exists directly where they are, where their physical bodies appear to be, is not different in Nature than what actually Exists everywhere else as well, where the rest of physical reality appears to be, thereby disabusing them of the notion that what they are is a physical reality, while at the same time revealing to them their true Nature as Consciousness, which, through relation to that which is also Consciousness, creates what they, as Individual points of Consciousness, apprehend as experiential reality in general and physical reality in particular.Part III of this series of three articles includes: 3. The nature of the wavefunction; 4. There is no spoon; and 5. The connection between quantum physics and eastern philosophy.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing questions in philosophy concerns the true nature of external reality. In this paper, we discuss some of the theories that have been put forth regarding the nature of reality and of our perceived universe. We develop an abstract mathematical model, whereby, several theories that have been proposed so, ranging from modern physics to ancient Indian philosophy can be brought under a common umbrella. We also discuss a specific case, which emerges from our more general model, which has an interesting consequence upon the way we view our world.
However, the observations encompassed by classical physics excludes the observer from the physical reality, yet the deep-down understandung of nature --{\it the quantum theory}-- can not avoid the intrusion of observer into the measurement process. Indeed, the quantum physics experiments have knocked the door of a new paradigm: in which science of consciousness is an important axiom. In the present work, it is argued --by taking into account of the views of learned scientists and philosophers-- that modern science is incomplete and lacking something in the basic understanding of nature \cite{r}. Classical physics has failed to explain the dynamics of the microscopic particles, eventhough modern scientific researches are based upon the prejudice posed by classical physics: keeping the outer physical universe as a separate entity, that is something quite independent of the observer --human mind. One should not forget that human-being is a part of nature and human mind is an essential component of our observations. Basically, it is the observer --the consciousness-- which makes perception possible. The working of human mind must be included in our scientific theories. In fact, human free will is an illusion and nothing in the entire universe (with life) lies outside the domain of science and determinism.
What quantum theory has revealed about the nature of reality has remained hidden in plain sight for almost one-hundred years because what quantum theory has revealed about the nature of reality cannot be comprehended in the context of the materialist model and conception of reality in which science presently operates, which materialist model places physical reality at the center of reality and Consciousness at the periphery, as a secondary or derivative reality. What this work will demonstrate, by explaining the heretofore inexplicable basis of the phenomena that lie at the heart of quantum theory, is that it is Consciousness rather than physical reality that lies at the center of reality, and that it is physical reality rather than Consciousness that is a secondary or derivative reality. Specifically, wave-particle duality, quantum uncertainty, quantum non-locality, the probabilistic nature of the wavefunction, and the collapse of the wavefunction, will all be shown to be phenomena that have as their basis the way in which the fundamental Reality of Consciousness, through relation to Itself, creates what it apprehends as physical reality. One of the most important things the phenomena that lie at the heart of quantum theory will be shown to reveal about the nature of reality is that the nature of physical reality is like that of a reflection, and like a reflection, physical reality is able to obscure from view what is actually there, as long as it is mistaken for what is actually there. Thus, in revealing the reflection-like nature of physical reality, the phenomena that lie at the heart of quantum theory indirectly reveal that what is actually there, underlying the reflection that is physical reality, is the non-physical, non-experiential Reality of Consciousness that is, through relation to Itself, both creating and apprehending experiential reality in general and physical reality in particular. Ultimately, understanding the reflection-like nature of physical reality should make it possible for Individuals to understand that what actually Exists directly where they are, where their physical bodies appear to be, is not different in Nature than what actually Exists everywhere else as well, where the rest of physical reality appears to be, thereby disabusing them of the notion that what they are is a physical reality, while at the same time revealing to them their true Nature as Consciousness, which, through relation to that which is also Consciousness, creates what they, as Individual points of Consciousness, apprehend as experiential reality in general and physical reality in particular. Part III of this series of three articles includes: 3. The nature of the wavefunction; 4. There is no spoon; and 5. The connection between quantum physics and eastern philosophy.