CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Open Research Exeter Esoteric Quantization The Esoteric Imagination in David Bohm’s Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Thesis submitted to the University of Exeter by Gustavo Orlando Fernandez towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Western Esotericism January 2016 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. 1 Abstract This thesis aims to explore the relationship between the science, the philosophy and the esoteric imagination of the American physicist David Bohm (1917-1992). Bohm is recognized as one of the most brilliant physicists of his gen- eration. He is famous for his ‘hidden variables’ interpretation of quantum mechanics. Bohm wrote extensively on philosophical and psychological subjects. In his celebrated book Wholeness and the Implicate Order (1882) he introduced the influential ideas of the Explicate and the Implicate orders that are at the core of his process philosophy. Bohm was also a very close disciple of the Indian teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), whom he recognized to have had an important influence on his thought. Chapter 1 is a general explanation of what I intend to do, why my re- search is filling an important gap, introduce the field of Western esoteri- cism as a scholarly subject and suggesting that it offers a fruitful way of approaching the thought of David Bohm. I also explain my research prin- ciples and a brief description of the philosophical standpoint from which I am approaching the material. Chapter 2 gives a description of the textual sources I used in my re- search. This is followed by a comprehensive literature review. Chapter 3 is a biographical essay where I give an account of Bohm’s life, career, works, major ideas and their development, stressing their sig- nificance for the development of Bohm’s holistic philosophy and his inter- actions with the esoteric. This chapter is an introduction to the main ideas of the dissertation. Chapter 4 revisits the genesis of the Causal Interpretation, Bohm’s first attempt to deal with the interpretation of quantum mechanics. I make em- phasis on the philosophical developments that gave rise to it. I introduce all the relevant physics and give a detailed explanation of the problem of interpretation and Bohm’s first proposal. Chapter 5 is about the philosophical developments in Bohm’s thought brought by the Causal Interpretation. In particular I examine the influence that G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) had on Bohm’s thought and explain why I take the view that this is an esoteric influence. Chapter 6 reviews the developments in Bohm’s thought during the 1960’s. I describe Bohm’s search for radically new concepts in physics and his ex- changes with several thinkers ending with his encounter with Jiddu Krish- namurti. Chapters 7 and 8 are devoted to the study of Bohm’s philosophy as he 2 elaborated it after 1960. Chapter 7 concentrates on the idea of the Im- plicate Order and it also studies the Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Bohm’s last version of his interpretation effort, which is based on the Implicate Order. In chapter 8 I examine Bohm’s theory of how the mind and the body are connected through a ladder of consciousness formed by a series of Explicate and Implicate Orders, and finishes with an exposition of Bohm’s dialogue technique. In the last chapter I summarize my conclusions. An appendix is included with a brief overview of Bohm’s legacy. All the relevant details about the esoteric currents that Bohm encountered during his life and that are required to understand our argument are intro- duced as they are needed throughout the main body of the text. 3 Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to Nicholas Goodrick-Clark, the original super- visor of this thesis. His untimely death deprived us of an enthusiast, re- sourceful and visionary teacher. Andrew Pickering accepted to supervise this thesis along with Nich- olas. He accepted to become my main supervisor when most needed. I am thankful for his friendly support and his many suggestions, always helpful, insightful and to the point. It was a pleasure to work with Andrew. Richard Noakes accepted to supervise the thesis along with Andrew. I am thankful for his many suggestions and support. I am very grateful to Professor Basil Hiley. During the first years of my research I attended his weekly seminar at Birkbeck College. He provided me with very important insights and material. He also helped me to gain access to the David Bohm papers kept at Birkbeck College. Many thanks to Sue Godsell, librarian at Birkbeck College Library, for all her assistance during my research at the Bohm’s archive. Many thanks to Dr. Garreth Burr and Arletta Ford whom read parts of the manuscript and made important suggestions. Many thanks to Barbara Fernandez for reviewing the main parts of the manuscript and suggesting better ways to use the English language. To all all the staff of the now closed Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXECESO), and to the students who participated in the now closed MA in Western Esotericism at Exeter University a big thank you! It was a joy to be part of the discussions, seminars, knowledge, friendships, etc. I am very proud to be one of the first three graduates of the MA. Many other important people that helped with suggestions, discus- sions, etc. will forgive me for not mentioning them explicitly. In an effort like this one, there are always many participants who deserve credit. Alas!, it is never possible to include explicitly all the people who deserve a big thank you. Gustavo Orlando Fernandez Cambridge, England December 2015 4 5 A Note on Style and References The references and the general style of the thesis follows the recom- mendations of The Modern Humanities Research Association as described in MHRA Style Guide.1 NCUACS 66.4.97 stands for the David Bohm papers in the National Cata- loging Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists 66.4.97, deposed in the library of Birkbeck College of the University of London.2 NCUACS 66.4.97 is organized in four broad sections: A, B, C, and D. Each section is subsequently organized in sequentially numbered folders. A reference of the form ’NCUACS 66.4.97 A.1’ refers to the contents of folder 1 in section A. JKO stands for L.Krishnamurti Online, an initiative of the Krishnamurti Foundations to make the teachings of J. Krishnamurti available and freely downloadable in text and audio formats.3 The site guarantees the authen- ticity of a large text collection of all of Krishnamurti’s works from 1933 to 1986. This repository includes a large collection of recorded dialogues between David Bohm and Jiddu Krishnamurti. Any dialogue can be identi- fied by the date in which it took place and the text file in which the transcrip- tion is captured. A reference of the form ‘JKO 750531 v1.2 Final.doc’ refers to the document containing the transcription of the conversation that took place on 31 May 1975, and recorded in the file ’750531 v1.2 Final.doc’. This file can be downloaded from the website. 1Glanville Priceand and Brian Richardson, eds., MHRA Style Guide: A Handbook for Authors, Editors, and Writers of Theses (London: Modern Humanities Research As- sociation, 2008), <http : / /www . mhra . org .uk / Publications/ Books / StyleGuide/> [accessed 1 September 2015]. 2<http://www.bath.ac.uk/ncuacs/intro.htm> [accessed 1 September 2015] 3<http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/> [accessed 1 September 2015] 6 7 Contents 1 Introduction 12 1.1 Research Motivations . 12 1.2 Plan of the Thesis . 17 1.3 Modern Western Esotericism . 20 1.3.1 Esotericism . 20 1.3.2 Esotericism and the Academia . 23 1.3.3 Yates’ Paradigm . 29 1.3.4 Faivre’s Characterization . 31 1.3.5 Definition Issues . 35 1.4 An Integrative-Sympathetic-Corporate-Critical Approach . 42 1.5 The History of Science and Esotericism . 45 2 Sources 51 2.1 Primary Sources . 51 2.1.1 Unpublished Sources . 51 2.1.2 Books . 53 2.1.3 Dialogues . 55 2.1.4 Interviews . 56 2.1.5 Letters . 59 2.2 Secondary Sources . 60 2.2.1 Biographical and Historical . 60 2.2.2 Scientific . 64 2.2.3 Academic . 65 3 David Joseph Bohm (1917-1992) 71 3.1 Pennsylvania, Berkeley and Princeton . 71 3.2 Plasma as a Model of Collective Organization . 73 3.3 The Causal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics . 77 3.4 Into Exile . 82 3.5 Movement and the Qualitative Infinite of Nature . 91 3.6 London . 94 8 3.7 The Last Ten Years . 103 4 The Causal Interpretation 110 4.1 The Need for Interpretation . 111 4.2 Bohm’s Orthodox Interpretation . 115 4.2.1 Key Aspects of the Quantum Formalism . 115 4.2.2 Causality . 120 4.2.3 Discontinuity . 124 4.2.4 Quantum Wholeness . 126 4.2.5 The Classical Limit . 130 4.2.6 Entanglement . 133 4.2.7 Thought . 136 4.3 The Causal Interpretation . 139 4.3.1 The Physical Foundations of the Causal Interpretation 139 4.3.2 Comparing the Orthodox with the Causal . 153 4.3.3 The Reception of the Causal Interpretation .