Changes are mostly quantitative, with some qualitative changes, without affecting the world order, concept of reality and of matter, both physical and philosophical. The historical development of physics, such as in electromagnetism, quantum theory and relativity have changed the basic assumptions of the mechanistic philosophy. The enormous diversity of things in the world can be completely reduced to effects of some basic laws and their framework, considered absolute and final. The assumption of the final and absolute character of any theory contradicts the basic spirit of scientific method itself, which requires that every feature be subjected to further and continuous enquiries. The qualitative infinity of nature provides a framework, within which concepts of chance and necessity are two interconnected aspects of the same process. The debates on the epistemology of the observational problems with the transition to post-classical physics, and philosophy, continues to be a major problem.
Changes are mostly quantitative, with some qualitative changes, without affecting the world order, concept of reality and of matter, both physical and philosophical. The historical development of physics, such as in electromagnetism, quantum theory and relativity have changed the basic assumptions of the mechanistic philosophy. The enormous diversity of things in the world can be completely reduced to effects of some basic laws and their framework, considered absolute and final. The assumption of the final and absolute character of any theory contradicts the basic spirit of scientific method itself, which requires that every feature be subjected to further and continuous enquiries. The qualitative infinity of nature provides a framework, within which concepts of chance and necessity are two interconnected aspects of the same process. The debates on the epistemology of the observational problems with the transition to post-classical physics, and philosophy, continues to be a major problem.
Electromagnetism is a transitional phenomenon on way to quantum reality and relativity, a link, which considerably expands the new world picture. It is surprising that many scientists are influenced deeply by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. There are considerable differences in the way mechanics and electromagnetism conceptualize energy. The new image of the world consisting of field and electromagnetism conveys a very different mindset compared to the ‘force and work‘ framework. New discoveries are being made in all the sciences, as also in the social sciences. Some interesting problems have been discussed by Paul Davies and John Gribbin on the nature of matter and materialism today. Industrial revolution was a time of triumph of materialism and of human confidence. Electromagnetism and quantum have changed our concept of matter, in physical sense, and considerably in the philosophical sense. The relationship between the mental and physical realities/poles has reached interesting phase with the EM and quantum mechanics.
We present a historical-epistemological analysis of the foundations of quantum mechanics, highlighting the relationships between quantum mechanics and scientific realism, as well as the influence of the neo-positivist philosophy of the first decades of the 20th century. The great significance of the measurement process in the context of quantum mechanics is underlined as an essential element in providing a coherent description of reality, moving from micro to macrocosm, as well as the role that the measurement apparatus and the consciousness of the observer assume during the act of measurement, the related ontological problems, the question of the objectification of the wave function, and that of the definition of discernibility. We consider also an overview of the most important alternative proposals to the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics (Copenhagen interpretation), with particular reference to hidden variable theories and other alternatives to standard quantum mechanics philosophical approach, that are modifying the vision of reality, such as the Everett’s many-worlds theory, the QBism and unified holistic approaches, such as the Primordial Dynamic Space.
The genesis of actuality from potentiality, with the apparent role of the observer, is an important and unsolved problem which essentially defines science‟s view of reality in a variety of contexts. Observation then becomes lawful and not emergent. Panentheism is needed to provide a mechanism for order outside of blind efficient causality, in a Universal final causality. Classical physics is over a hundred years out of date, yet scientific models remain mechanistic and deterministic. Deism, a remnant of classical cosmology, is examined and rejected by scientists and philosophers, and certain pre-scientific notions of religion are scorned, putting the matter to rest. Quantum physics, in its basic form, is necessary if there is to be any philosophical or scientific notion of free will and self-determination, as potentiality. Quantum metaphysics is also needed because classical physics is fundamentally limited to localized external relations, lacking the internality and non-locality of relatedness. God, or the equivalent, is necessary to complete the equation. Physicists now tell us that reality is fundamentally mental and is created by observation. Observation is here taken to mean experience, with experience going all the way down to the lowest order of a Universal mentality.
Philosophy is dissolved into quantum philosophy, which is really not the philosophy created by the hitherto existing human thought but its dissociation into ‘constituent’ aspects/processes/conversions such as time, space, matter, energy, measure, etc. Quantum world is a world of constant transformations, which is the only constant, from the point of view of the worldview. The quantum world leads to a rearrangement of the subject/object relationship. The nature of the reality or of what is being observed is qualitatively different from the one in the tangible world. When one applies quantum theory to the electrodynamics of “elementary” particles such as electrons, protons, etc. internal inconsistencies arise in theory. These inconsistencies are connected with the prediction of infinite values for values for various physical properties e.g. mass and charge of the electron.
As it is well known, classical mechanics consists of several basic features like determinism, reductionism, completeness of knowledge and mechanicism. In this article the basic assumptions are discussed which underlie those features. It is shown that these basic assumptions - though universally assumed up the beginnings of the XX century - are far from being obvious. Finally it is shown that - to a certain extent - there is nothing wrong in assuming these basic postulates. Rather, the error lies in the epistemological absolutization of the theory, which was considered as a mirroring of Nature.
Agr??t deal of so-called classical physics takes its cues from the work shop nd from the machinist' art. This is true no only in erms of generalities; it has often held in a very personal sense. For example, Isaac Newton was a passionate tinkerer in his younger years. Again, to take a more recent instance, this writer has had the privilege on two oc casions, of a lengthy scientific discussion with Albert Einstein. Although the specific subject matters were quite different, it was striking, each time, to see the way Einstein's mind was working through engineering images and how often he used the engineer's language. Interpolation of numberless other examples between these two giants of classical physics would be easy but the subject is too well known to insist upon it. To de scribe, as is customary, the philosophy of classical physics as mechanistic is apt phraseology. The introduction of statistical elements into physical theory became extensive about a century ago through kinetic theory, which was then mathematically organized into statistical mechanics. A much more radi cal penetration of statistical elements into physics occurred with the ad vent of quantum mechanics. The development of mathematical methods was rapid but the interpretation which constituted the breaking away from mechanistic types of thought was slower. Again, these matters are such a well-known part of scientific history that we need not dwell on them. Owing to the long-standing tradition of mechanistic models, sta tistical features have often been considered either as a nuisance or as a pretext for mathematical elegance in preference to the approach which we take here, namely, thinking of them as a class of remarkable natural phenomena in their own right. Along with the various mechanistic models of matter, there has throughout history existed another trend of natural philosophy: Its basic view is to think of matter as a creative agency. Since according to an age old adage nothing comes out of nothing, we need to state this proposition more clearly if it is to make sense. The possibility of its essentially abstract formulation will then become apparent in due turn. Because the mecha nist has at his disposal differential equations and the conservation laws which they imply, he can, and invariably does, push the problems of creation into the dim recesses of time and space. On the other hand, when we speak of creativity we must here imply that a material substrate is 502