Beyond Complementarity

Arun Bala

Arun Bala

SARAH M. H. NOUWEN

Marc E. Carvallo

Introduction: On Issues in Complementarity and Beyond M.E. Carvallo. Part I: Complementarity, Epistemology, and Ontology. 1. Complementarity-Polarity-Dialectic-Autology: A Conceptual Analysis of Opposition and Unity A. Locker. 2. Complementarity as Challenge: Prefigurations in the History of Thinking H. Fischer-Barnicol. 3. Bohr's Idea of Complementarity J. Hilgevoord. 4. Complementarity and Our Knowledge of Nature H.J. Folse. 5. Ontological Implications of Complementarity K.V. Laurikainen. 6. Aspects of Complementarity R. Vallee. Part II: Complementarity: Alternative Views and Applications. 7. The Probability Trees of Quantum Mechanics: Probabilistic Meta-Dependence and Meta-Meta-Dependence M. Mugur-Schachter. 8. Complementarity in Language: Toward a General Understanding L. Loefgren. 9. Language, Incompleteness and Continuous Domains: Considerations of Complementarity of Abstractions H.W. Campbell, D.G. Stuart. 10. The Measurement Problem in Physics, Computation, and Brain Theories H.H. Pattee. 11. On the Double Architecture of the Semantic Memory P. Erdi, T. Groebler, P. Marton. 12. Axiomatic Methods in Science P. Suppes. 13. Complementarity in the Theory of Conversations and Lp G. Pask. 14. A Theory of Bargains in Experience S.M. Lindenberg. Part III: Beyond Complementarity, Beyond Physics. 15. Complementarity or Process? T. Bastin. 16. Can Quantum Computation Provide a Physically Realistic Model of the Self and Its Brain? P.J.Marcer. 17. Non-Locality in Nature and Cognition F.D. Peat. 18. Spontaneity of Consciousness V.V. Nalimov. 19. A Brief Prolegomenon to the Principle of Metaphoricity M.E. Carvallo. Name Index. Subject Index.

Osvaldo Frota Pessoa Junior

Arun Bala

In this study Arun Bala examines the implications that Niels Bohr’s principle of complementarity holds for fields beyond physics. Bohr, one of the founding figures of modern quantum physics, argued that the principle of complementarity he proposed for understanding atomic processes has parallels in psychology, biology, and social science, as well as in Buddhist and Taoist thought. But Bohr failed to offer any explanation for why complementarity might extend beyond physics, and his claims have been widely rejected by scientists as empty speculation. Scientific scepticism has only been reinforced by the naïve enthusiasm of postmodern relativists and New Age intuitionists, who seize upon Bohr’s ideas to justify anti-realist and mystical positions. Arun Bala offers a detailed defence of Bohr’s claim that complementarity has far-reaching implications for the biological and social sciences, as well as for comparative philosophies of science, by explaining Bohr’s parallels as responses to the omnipresence of grown properties in nature.