Beyond objects: ontic structural realism and modal-Hamiltonian interpretation facing the problem of quantum indistinguishability

Authors

  • Bruno Borge Universidad de Buenos Aires
  • Olimpia Lombardi Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29393/CF42-5EOBO20005

Keywords:

Ontic structural realism, Modal-Hamiltonian interpretation, Quantum indistinguishability

Abstract

One of the major appeals of Ontic Structural Realism (OSR) is to provide a metaphysical proposal capable of dealing with the ontological problem of quantum indistinguishability. The Modal-Hamiltonian Interpretation of quantum mechanics (MHI), on the other hand, aspires to formulate a “global” solution, in which all the ontological problems of the theory can be adequately addressed in terms of a single ontology. In both proposals, the ontological category of object is absent. The purpose of the present article is to analyze the MHI ontology by suggesting that it satisfies the central motivations that led to the formulation of OSR but also overcomes the conceptual problems that OSR has faced since its formulation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Armstrong, D. M. (1983). What is a law of nature? Cambridge University Press.

Ballentine, L. E. (1998). Quantum mechanics: A modern development. World Scientific.

Benovsky, J. (2008). The bundle theory and the substratum theory: Deadly enemies or twin brothers? Philosophical Studies, 141(2), 175–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-007-9157-1

Bernoulli, J. (1713). Ars conjectandi, opus posthumum. Accedit tractatus de seriebus infinitis, et epistola gallice scripta de ludo pilae reticularis. Thurneysen.

Bird, A. (2007). Nature's metaphysics: Laws and properties. Oxford University Press.

Borge, B., & Lombardi, O. (2025). Modalidad en mecánica cuántica. Revista de Filosofía. in press.

Brading, K., & Landry, E. (2006). Scientific structuralism and the semantic view of scientific theories. Philosophy of Science, 73(5), 571–583. https://doi.org/10.1086/518327

Busch, J. (2003). The time-energy uncertainty relation. In J. Muga, R. Sala Mayato, & Í. Egusquiza (Eds.), Time in quantum mechanics (pp. 73–105). Springer.

Calosi, C., & Mariani, M. (2021). Quantum indeterminacy. Philosophy Compass, 16(4), e12731. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12731

Calosi, C., & Wilson, J. M. (2019). Quantum metaphysical indeterminacy. Philosophical Studies, 176(10), 2599–2627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-018-1140-5

Cao, T. Y. (2003). Structural realism and the interpretation of quantum field theory. Synthese, 136(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024156525073

Chakravartty, A. (2003). The structuralist conception of objects. Philosophy of Science, 70(5), 867–878. https://doi.org/10.1086/378859

Chakravartty, A. (2007). A metaphysics for scientific realism: Knowing the unobservable. Cambridge University Press.

da Costa, N. C. A., & Krause, D. (1999). Set-theoretical models for quantum systems. In M. L. Dalla Chiara, R. Giuntini, & F. Laudisa (Eds.), Language, quantum, music (pp. 171–181). Springer.

da Costa, N. C. A., Lombardi, O., & Lastiri, M. (2013). A modal ontology of properties for quantum mechanics. Synthese, 190(17), 3671–3693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-012-0224-6

da Costa, N. C. A., & Lombardi, O. (2014). Quantum mechanics: Ontology without individuals. Foundations of Physics, 44(12), 1246–1257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-014-9842-9

Denby, D. A. (2001). Determinable nominalism. Philosophical Studies, 102(3), 297–327. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010373226740

Esfeld, M. (2009). Hypothetical metaphysics of nature. In F. Stadler (Ed.), The present situation in the philosophy of science (pp. 339–354). Springer.

Fletcher, S. C., & Taylor, D. E. (2024). The representation and determinable structure of quantum properties. Synthese, 204(2), 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-024-04631-x

French, S. (1989). Identity and individuality in classical and quantum physics. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 67(4), 432–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048408912343971

French, S. (1998). On the withering away of physical objects. In E. Castellani (Ed.), Interpreting bodies: Classical and quantum objects in modern physics (pp. 93–113). Princeton University Press.

French, S. (2006). Structure as a weapon of the realist. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 106(2), 167–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9264.2006.00146.x

French, S. (2014). The structure of the world: Metaphysics and representation. Oxford University Press.

French, S. (2020a). There are no such things as theories. Oxford University Press.

French, S. (2020b). What is this thing called structure? (Rummaging in the toolbox of metaphysics for an answer). http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16921/

French, S. (2021). Author's response: Steven French: There are no such things as theories. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Metascience, 30(1), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11016-020-00583-3

French, S., & Bigaj, T. (2024). Identity and individuality in quantum theory. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2024 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-idind/

French, S., & Krause, D. (2006). Identity in physics: A historical, philosophical, and formal analysis. Oxford University Press.

French, S., & Ladyman, J. (2003). Remodelling structural realism: Quantum physics and the metaphysics of structure. Synthese, 136(1), 31–56. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024156110636

Frigg, R. (2006). Scientific representation and the semantic view of theories. Theoria, 55(1-3), 49–65. https://doi.org/10.1387/theoria.551

Hale, B. (1987). Abstract objects. Basil Blackwell.

Held, C. (2022). The Kochen-Specker theorem. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2022 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kochen-specker/

Holik, F., Jorge, M., Krause, D., & Lombardi, O. (2022). Quasi-set theory for a quantum ontology of properties. Synthese, 200(7), 401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-022-03884-8

Kant, I. (1902). Gesammelte Schriften. Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Kochen, S., & Specker, E. P. (1967). The problem of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. Journal of Mathematics and Mechanics, 17(1), 59–87.

Krause, D. (1992). On a quasi-set theory. Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 33(3), 402–411. https://doi.org/10.1305/ndjfl/1093636159

Ladyman, J. (1998). What is structural realism? Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 29(3), 409–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(98)80130-2

Lombardi, O. (2023). A Kantian-rooted pluralist realism for science. In C. Soto (Ed.), Current debates in philosophy of science: In honor of Roberto Torretti (pp. 81–101). Springer.

Morganti, M. (2004). On the preferability of epistemic structural realism. Synthese, 142(1), 81–107. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SYNT.0000047711.97280.9e

Muller, F. A., & Saunders, S. (2008). Discerning fermions. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 59(3), 499–548. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axn027

Muller, F. A., & Seevinck, M. P. (2009). Discerning elementary particles. Philosophy of Science, 76(2), 179–200. https://doi.org/10.1086/649805

Newman, M. H. A. (1928). Mr. Russell's "causal theory of perception". Mind, 37(146), 137–148.

O'Leary-Hawthorne, J. (1995). The bundle theory of substance and the identity of indiscernibles. Analysis, 55(3), 191–196. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/55.3.191

Psillos, S. (2001). Is structural realism possible? Philosophy of Science, 68(S3), S13–S24. https://doi.org/10.1086/392894

Psillos, S. (2006). The structure, the whole structure, and nothing but the structure? Philosophy of Science, 73(5), 560–570. https://doi.org/10.1086/518326

Quine, W. V. O. (1976). Whither physical objects? In R. S. Cohen, P. K. Feyerabend, & M. W. Wartofsky (Eds.), Essays in memory of Imre Lakatos (pp. 497–504). Springer.

Reichenbach, H. (1965). The theory of relativity and a priori knowledge. University of California Press.

Rettler, B., & Bailey, A. M. (2022). Object. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2022 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/object/

Robinson, D. (2021). Substance. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2021 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2021/entries/substance/

Russell, B. (1940). An inquiry into meaning and truth. Allen and Unwin.

Saunders, S. (2003). Physics and Leibniz's principles. In K. Brading & E. Castellani (Eds.), Symmetries in physics: Philosophical reflections (pp. 289–307). Cambridge University Press.

Tarski, A. (1941). On the calculus of relations. The Journal of Symbolic Logic, 6(3), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/2268577

van Fraassen, B. C. (1985). Statistical behaviour of indistinguishable particles: Problems of interpretation. In P. Mittelstaedt & E.-W. Stachow (Eds.), Recent developments in quantum logic (pp. 161–187). Bibliographisches Institut.

van Fraassen, B. C. (2006). Representation: The problem for structuralism. Philosophy of Science, 73(5), 536–547. https://doi.org/10.1086/518326

Vetter, B. (2015). Potentiality: From dispositions to modality. Oxford University Press.

Wetzel, L. (2002). Types and tokens. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2002 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/types-tokens/

Wilson, J. M. (2022). Determinables and determinates. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2022 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/determinate-determinables/

Wolff, C. (1728). Philosophia rationalis sive logica. Georg Olms.

Worrall, J. (1989). Structural realism: The best of both worlds? Dialectica, 43(1-2), 99–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-8361.1989.tb00933.x

Published

2024-12-20

How to Cite

Borge, B., & Lombardi, O. (2024). Beyond objects: ontic structural realism and modal-Hamiltonian interpretation facing the problem of quantum indistinguishability. Journal of Philosophy, (42), 115 - 147. https://doi.org/10.29393/CF42-5EOBO20005