Quantum physics and the dialogue with religionThe present paper has two main purposes. On the one hand, to introduce Pascual Jordan (1902-1980), an author little known in philosophy academic circles and better known in scientific ones. Jordan took part in the birth of quantum physics during the first half of the 20th century and worked side by side with Werner Heisenberg under Max Born’s direction to elaborate Matrix Mechanics, an essential contribution to the formal description of atom quantum structure.On the other hand, I expose his personal contribution to the science and religion debate. In this regard, he found himself both in an unfavorable and a favorable position. Unfavorable, because Jordan stands far from such epistemological matters as scientific realism; favorable, because he took very seriously the discoveries of new rising physics, and was, thus, a committed realist when discussing scientific theories. Furthermore, he was a devoted Christian, which means that he has a realist stance on religion – the only valid choice for those who consider the relation between life and faith as indissoluble. His constitutive realism leads him to regard the relation between religion and science as an existential problem rather than as an academic one, and therefore, he dedicated a large part of his philosophical works to this subject.
Quantum physics and the dialogue with religionThe present paper has two main purposes. On the one hand, to introduce Pascual Jordan (1902-1980), an author little known in philosophy academic circles and better known in scientific ones. Jordan took part in the birth of quantum physics during the first half of the 20th century and worked side by side with Werner Heisenberg under Max Born’s direction to elaborate Matrix Mechanics, an essential contribution to the formal description of atom quantum structure.On the other hand, I expose his personal contribution to the science and religion debate. In this regard, he found himself both in an unfavorable and a favorable position. Unfavorable, because Jordan stands far from such epistemological matters as scientific realism; favorable, because he took very seriously the discoveries of new rising physics, and was, thus, a committed realist when discussing scientific theories. Furthermore, he was a devoted Christian, which means that he has a realist stance on religion – the only valid choice for those who consider the relation between life and faith as indissoluble. His constitutive realism leads him to regard the relation between religion and science as an existential problem rather than as an academic one, and therefore, he dedicated a large part of his philosophical works to this subject.
On several levels, there is now a debate whether the concept of God can be made compatible with modern science. In an attempt to elucidate this debate, I give an account of my own experiences from writing a book on the foundation of quantum mechanics. In my opinion, one can give two independent arguments for the existence of God by taking as departure an epistemic (knowledge-based) interpretation of quantum theory. However, I also argue that any religious belief should be the result of an existential choice governed by each person’s own context (history and culture). In particular, I give my account of Christianity as a religion connected to our western culture, how one as a scientist can relate to the relevant dogmas.
We discuss the influential role of Niels Bohr's work in the anti-realist realist re-foundation of physics that took place during the 20th century. We will focus in how, developing the modern co-relational matrix of scientific understanding, his essentially anti-realist scheme was able to capture, subvert and defeat the realist program of science through the establishment of a weakened impotent form of "religious realism" grounded on faith instead of scientific conditions. Finally, we will focus in how, still today, anti-realist realism continues to rule the contemporary post-modern research in both (quantum) physics and philosophy.
The main idea consists in researching the existence of certain characteristics of nature similar to human reasonability and purposeful actions, originating and rigorously inferable from the postulates of quantum mechanics as well as from those of special and general relativity. The pathway of the “free-will theorems” proved by Conway and Kochen in 2006 and 2009 is followed and pioneered further. Those natural reasonability and teleology are identified as a special subject called “God” and studyable by “quantum theology”, a scientific counterpart of classical theology as far as the latter endeavors to justify rationally God (without quotation marks) postulated by religion, but meaning in the present study, first of all, Christianity. The suggested “quantum theology” is situated in the historical opposition and conflict of science and religion in Modernity and its reflection in Heidegger’s conception of “ontotheology”. The conception of “ontomathematics” introduced in previous papers to unite and unify physics, mathematics, and philosophy is reinterpreted in the present context to be conservatively generalized in a way to include “quantum theology”. Two conceptions, “locality” and “nonlocality”, originating initially from physics and especially, from theory of entanglement and quantum information, are also generalized ontomathematically, and thus in relation to the newly introduced “quantum theology”. The “quantum theology” subject of “God” is juxtaposed with God of religion and billions of believers all over the world. Husserl’s conception of “philosophy as a rigorous science” is considered to be generalized now to theology as quantum theology, particularly by the phenomenon (in the sense of his “phenomenology”) of “God”, or by an “epoché” to whether God exists or not. The research of the phenomenon of “God” is extended to the conception of the “totality” being inherent for philosophy, especially for classical German philosophy preceding Husserl’s phenomenology. Those sequences for philosophy implied by the introduction of quantum theology are investigated further, on the pathway of ontomathematics, also in relation to what “God” should mean for today’s physics and mathematics. The option and research field of “experimental quantum theology” is discussed as a direct corollary from quantum theology though being sacrilegious as for classical theology. The concluding section reflects in a more loose way on the relation of “God” for quantum theology to God for religion and billions of believers all over the world.
Although the scientific milieu of the first part of the 20th century is marked by the strong influence of neopositivism, prominent physicists such as Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr stressed the necessity to transcend human sensorial cognition in quest for the ultimate sense of things and the source of the ethical values of human conduct. In particular, this comes to the fore in the context of the relations between science and religion. The stance of Werner Heisenberg in regards to this issue reveals his deep philosophical insight with emphasis on the role of the common sense language in the symbolic discourse of the traditional religions. The advent of the new scientific method in the 17th, that revolutionized the antique picture of the world, led to the final breakdown of the adequacy of the common sense language in the scientific description of the physical reality. According to Heisenberg, the relations between science and religion become most visible with the resulting loss of the symbolic religious discourse whereby access to the ethical values is hindered.
This paper examines the deep and enduring relationship between physics and philosophy, a connection that has shaped the trajectory of human inquiry from antiquity to the present. By tracing their shared historical roots, the paper emphasizes how early philosophical speculations laid the groundwork for scientific reasoning. Despite the modern institutional separation of these two disciplines, physics continues to grapple with questions that are fundamentally philosophical in nature, questions concerning the essence of time, space, causality, determinism, and the very nature of reality. The paper explores the epistemological structures that underpin scientific knowledge, such as the criteria for theory confirmation and falsifiability, and investigates the ontological assumptions embedded in classical and modern physics. Special attention is devoted to paradigm shifts in the history of science, including the contributions of figures such as Aristotle, Newton, Popper, and Kuhn, as well as the radical implications of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Through an analysis of contemporary debates, such as those surrounding interpretations of quantum mechanics, the multiverse, and the conceptual validity of string theory, the paper argues that philosophy remains indispensable for critically examining and contextualizing scientific thought. Far from being obsolete, philosophical reflection serves as a compass for navigating the conceptual challenges of physics. Ultimately, the dialogue between philosophy and physics is presented as a dynamic and reciprocal exchange, one that not only enriches both fields but is also necessary for advancing our understanding of the universe.
This paper examines the deep and enduring relationship between physics and philosophy, a connection that has shaped the trajectory of human inquiry from antiquity to the present. By tracing their shared historical roots, the paper emphasizes how early philosophical speculations laid the groundwork for scientific reasoning. Despite the modern institutional separation of these two disciplines, physics continues to grapple with questions that are fundamentally philosophical in nature, questions concerning the essence of time, space, causality, determinism, and the very nature of reality. The paper explores the epistemological structures that underpin scientific knowledge, such as the criteria for theory confirmation and falsifiability, and investigates the ontological assumptions embedded in classical and modern physics. Special attention is devoted to paradigm shifts in the history of science, including the contributions of figures such as Aristotle, Newton, Popper, and Kuhn, as well as the radical implications of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Through an analysis of contemporary debates, such as those surrounding interpretations of quantum mechanics, the multiverse, and the conceptual validity of string theory, the paper argues that philosophy remains indispensable for critically examining and contextualizing scientific thought. Far from being obsolete, philosophical reflection serves as a compass for navigating the conceptual challenges of physics. Ultimately, the dialogue between philosophy and physics is presented as a dynamic and reciprocal exchange, one that not only enriches both fields but is also necessary for advancing our understanding of the universe.