Powers ontology and the quantum revolution

Abstract

An Aristotelian philosophy of nature rejects the modern prejudice in favor of the microscopic, a rejection that is crucial if we are to penetrate the mysteries of the quantum world. I defend an Aristotelian model by drawing on both quantum chemistry and recent work on the measurement problem. By building on the work of Hans Primas, using the distinction between quantum and classical properties that emerges in quantum chemistry at the thermodynamic or continuum limit, I develop a new version of the Copenhagen interpretation, a version that is realist, holistic, and hylomorphic in character, allowing for the attribution of fundamental causal powers to human observers and their instruments. I conclude with a critique of non-hylomorphic theories of primitive ontology, including Bohmian mechanics, Everettianism, and GRW mass-density.

Maximal motion and minimal matter: Aristotelian physics and special relativity

“…This resurgence has extended into the world of physics, principally by connecting quantum indeterminacy to the Aristotelian concept of material potentiality. Schulman (1989), Koons (2017Koons ( , 2021aKoons ( , 2021b, and Simpson (2020Simpson ( , 2021 explore what Arisotelian concepts say about the quantum world, whileSimpson other works apply Aristotle's thought to interpretations of quantum mechanics (Koons 2018, Pruss 2018.…”

Science-Engaged Thomism

“…One of the contributors to this volume is Daniel De Haan, who in his work (De Haan 2017 discusses, critically reflects on, and incorporates insights from both neuroscience and psychology for an Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophical anthropology, especially psychology. Another example would be Robert Koons (2018aKoons ( , 2018bKoons ( , 2019Koons ( , 2020, who has been working, together with William Simpson (Simpson 2021(Simpson , 2023Simpson and Pemberton 2022), towards a hylomorphic interpretation of quantum theory, and recently presented a defence of Aquinas' Aristotelian philosophy of nature (Koons 2022). Edward Feser has also brought Aristotelian natural philosophy (Feser 2019) and Thomistic metaphysics (Feser 2014) into conversation with the sciences and philosophy of science.…”