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Prespacetime journal

Quantum Information: The New Ontology

Michele Caponigro

Published Nov 23, 2017• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this essay, we argue about two different positions in the philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: 1) Relational view of reality; and 2) Informational view of reality.

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This essay offers a critical reading of Karen Barad’s and Heinrich Päs’ interpretations of quantum mechanics, using a Categorial Differentiation approach to science and religion, which is inspired by Wittgenstein and van Fraassen. Barad and Päs are ontological realists, but their philosophies of quantum mechanics depart from what I call scientistic realist interpretations of quantum mechanics, which are mainstream in the analytic philosophy of physics. After an overview of the ontological turn in the philosophy of quantum mechanics and explaining the basic difference between scientistic and existential kinds of realism, I examine the central features of Barad’s agential realism and Päs’ quantum monism. The Categorial Differentiation approach, which offers a normative perspective on the relationship between science and religion, is introduced, and its relevance for the philosophy (and theology) of quantum mechanics is explained. I conclude the essay with a critical analysis of Barad’s and Päs’ interpretations from this Wittgensteinian perspective, focusing on the ways in which they relate the science of quantum mechanics with their respective existential–moral visions.