Cassirer and Bohr on Intuitive and Symbolic Knowledge in Quantum Physics

Abstract

This paper compares Cassirer's and Bohr's views on symbolic knowledge in quantum physics. Although both of them consider quantum physics as symbolic knowledge, for Cassirer this amounts to a complete renunciation to intuition in quantum physics, while according to Bohr only spatio-temporal images may provide the mathematical formalism of the theory with physical reference. We show the Kantian roots of Bohr's position and we claim that his Kantian concept of symbol enables Bohr to account for the sensible content of quantum theory as well as for its systematic relation to classical physics.Keywords: Cassirer; Bohr; symbol; intuition; quantum physics.RESUMEN: En este artículo se comparan las concepciones de Cassirer y Bohr del conocimiento simbólico de la física cuántica. Aunque ambos consideran a la física cuántica un conocimiento simbólico, para Cassirer esto conlleva una renuncia total a la intuición en física cuántica, mientras que para Bohr sólo las imágenes espacio-temporales pueden proporcionar al formalismo matemático de la teoría una referencia física. Mostraremos las raíces kantianas de la posición de Bohr y afirmaremos que esta noción kantiana de símbolo permite a Bohr explicar el contenido sensible de la teoría cuántica, así como su relación sistemática con la física clásica.

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