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Idealization and Formalism in Bohr's Approach to Quantum Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Scott Tanona
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Abstract

I reinterpret Bohr's attitude towards quantum mechanical formalism and its empirical content, based on his understanding of the correspondence principle and its approximate applicability. I suggest that Bohr understood complementarity as a limitation imposed by the commutation relations upon the applicability of the idealizations which had grounded the use of the correspondence principle. By discussing this interpretation against the contemporary background of discussions regarding “naïve realism” about operators (as observables), I suggest that a Bohrian view on the empirical content of quantum mechanical operators may provide a middle ground between complete contextualism and an untenable realism about quantum properties.

Type
Bohr's Philosophy of Quantum Theory: A New Look
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 71 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2002 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers , December 2004 , pp. 683 - 695
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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References

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