DOCSLIB.ORG

ABSTRACT Title of Document: QUANTUM MECHANICS and QUANTUM INFORMATION THEORY Wesley William Van Camp, Doctor of Philosophy, 20

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ABSTRACT Title of Document: QUANTUM MECHANICS and QUANTUM INFORMATION THEORY Wesley William Van Camp, Doctor of Philosophy, 20 ABSTRACT Title of Document: QUANTUM MECHANICS AND QUANTUM INFORMATION THEORY Wesley William Van Camp, Doctor of Philosophy, 2009 Directed By: Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Committee for Philosophy and the Sciences, Jeffrey Bub, Department of Philosophy The principle aim of this dissertation is to investigate the philosophical application of quantum information theory to interpretational issues regarding the theory of quantum mechanics. Recently, quantum information theory has emerged as a potential source for such an interpretation. The main question with which this dissertation will be concerned is whether or not an information-theoretic interpretation can serve as a conceptually acceptable interpretation of quantum mechanics. It will be argued that some of the more obvious approaches – that quantum information theory shows us that ultimately the world is made of information, and quantum Bayesianism – fail as philosophical interpretations of quantum mechanics. However, the information- theoretic approach of Clifton, Bub, and Halvorson introduces Einstein’s distinction between principle theories and constructive theories , arguing that quantum mechanics is best understood as an information-theoretic principle theory. While I argue that this particular approach fails, it does offer a viable new philosophical role for information theory. Specifically, an investigation of interpretationally successful principle theories such as Newtonian mechanics, special relativity, and general relativity, shows that the particular principles employed are necessary as constitutive elements of a framework which partially defines the basic explanatory concepts of space, time, and motion. Without such constitutive principles as preconditions for empirical meaning, scientific progress is hampered. It is argued that the philosophical issues in quantum mechanics stem from an analogous conceptual crisis. On the basis of this comparison, the best strategy for resolving these problems is to apply a similar sort of conceptual analysis to quantum mechanics so as to provide an appropriate set of constitutive principles clarifying the conceptual issues at stake. It is further argued that quantum information theory is ideally placed as a novel conceptual framework from which to conduct this analysis. QUANTUM MECHANICS AND QUANTUM INFORMATION THEORY By Wesley William Van Camp Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2009 Advisory Committee: Distinguished University Professor Jeffrey Bub, Chair Associate Professor Allen Stairs Associate Professor Mathias Frisch Associate Professor Michael D. Silberstein Professor Don Perlis © Copyright by Wesley William Van Camp 2009 Preface To a very large extent, this manuscript mirrors the course of my actual thinking on these matters. When I first arrived in graduate school I was not familiar with the subject of information theory, let alone quantum information theory. Therefore, not knowing the subject my dissertation, this seemed an intriguing area of research – new, exiting, promising. Quantum information theory seemed to me to be philosophically promising because much of its successes draw from those aspects of quantum mechanics which had been puzzled over by physicists and philosophers since day one. It did not question these oddities; it embraced them, and got results. It was exiting because the approach in the foundations of physics, seemed to make the claim that physics, at least quantum physics, was “about information”. I did not know what this meant, I am not sure I do still, but it is enticing. It lends itself to at least two obvious interpretations. One, classical mechanics is about particles, waves, and motion, and this seemed to have real ontological significance. Classical mechanics is about describing the things out there in the world. So if quantum mechanics was about information, then by analogy, information must have some sort of ontological significance. Rather than a world made up of particles and waves, it is a world made up of information. Very sci-fi. Two, if quantum mechanics is about information, then it is about our knowledge. So the theory of quantum mechanics tells us simply about what we know and that some of our most fundamental physics is inherently reflexive in some way. Neither of these approaches felt particularly satisfactory to me. The first hardly coherent, the second just a refrain on instrumental interpretations of quantum ii mechanics. It does not bring new justification for being an instrumentalist, nor does it make it any more realist. So I spent some time analyzing why these approaches are not promising. But then the question becomes, what good does quantum information do us regarding the fundamentals? Is it simply an alternate mathematical structure which does not shed any new light on interpretational issues? Here, Clifton, Bub, and Halvorson (CBH, 2003) provide a third way, though it was only discussed briefly. The idea was that information-theoretic principles could be provided from which the general features of quantum mechanics could be derived. This, in turn, could mean that there is a principle theory of quantum mechanics, just as there is for relativity theory. But for me, this also raises questions: is, in fact, a principle theory, ipso facto , interpretationally preferable, and if so, why, and why does this now make quantum information theory important (there could be principle theories without quantum information-theoretic principles)? This is where most of my investigation lies. What makes a principle theory valuable? And does that apply in the case of quantum mechanics? And is quantum information theory the right approach? I was skeptical that in virtue being a principle theory, there was automatically, so to speak, some interpretational groundwork done or swept aside. Einstein did formulate relativity theory as a principle theory, but he also took thermodynamics to be a paradigm example of a principle theory. The final verdict is perhaps not yet in, but it seems to be far from obvious that thermodynamics is a more fundamental theory than statistical mechanics, which many take to underlie thermodynamic phenomena. The lesson is that being a principle theory is not, in itself, enough. iii After trips to more distant territory such as Kant and logical positivism, I was better able to understand the role principle theories play in foundational physics and be more precise about what qualities make them foundational via historical examples. There are times and instances where principle theories can play this role, indeed, must play this role. The next question then is: is now such a time and is quantum mechanics such an instance? I conclude that yes, it is. So is quantum information theory the place to get such principle from? Perhaps. There is nothing prima facie intrinsically special about quantum information theory; however, it is perhaps the only place which is in fact offering plausible constitutive principles. Other avenues in quantum mechanics, I contend, unless drastically reformulated, cannot play the role which is necessary. So I see myself as pursuing the quantum information-theoretic approach to see how it could work. In the end, I think that it can if applied in the right manner. In particular, the CBH approach hit on something important regarding quantum mechanics and the potential for approaching it as a principle theory using information theory. But more work needs to be done. iv Dedication For mom. v Acknowledgements First of all I would like to acknowledge the role played by my dissertation advisor Jeff Bub, having first sparked my interest in quantum information theory and for all of the help with the document and clearing up some of my own confusions. I would also like to thank all of the members of my committee Allen Stairs, Mathias Frisch, Michael Silberstein, and Don Perlis. I would also like to acknowledge and express my gratitude for the support over the years from my family – my father, my brother, and sister, and my mother. And of course I need to thank my wife Debbie for her love, encouragement, and partnership in this journey. vi Table of Contents Preface........................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ..................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Quantum Information .................................................................................. 9 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 9 2.2. There’s Information, and then there’s Information.......................................... 11 2.3. “All things physical are information-theoretic in origin.” ............................... 18 2.4. Quantum Bayesianism ..................................................................................... 20 2.4.1. The View ..................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Mechanical Problems in the Corpus of Aristotle
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications, Classics and Religious Studies Department Classics and Religious Studies July 2007 The Mechanical Problems in the Corpus of Aristotle Thomas Nelson Winter University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/classicsfacpub Part of the Classics Commons Winter, Thomas Nelson, "The Mechanical Problems in the Corpus of Aristotle" (2007). Faculty Publications, Classics and Religious Studies Department. 68. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/classicsfacpub/68 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Classics and Religious Studies at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications, Classics and Religious Studies Department by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Th e Mechanical Problems in the Corpus of Aristotle Th omas N. Winter Lincoln, Nebraska • 2007 Translator’s Preface. Who Wrote the Mechanical Problems in the Aristotelian Corpus? When I was translating the Mechanical Problems, which I did from the TLG Greek text, I was still in the fundamentalist authorship mode: that it survives in the corpus of Aristotle was then for me prima facie Th is paper will: evidence that Aristotle was the author. And at many places I found in- 1) off er the plainest evidence yet that it is not Aristotle, and — 1 dications that the date of the work was apt for Aristotle. But eventually, 2) name an author. I saw a join in Vitruvius, as in the brief summary below, “Who Wrote Th at it is not Aristotle does not, so far, rest on evidence.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract for Non Ideal Measurements by David Albert (Philosophy, Columbia) and Barry Loewer (Philosophy, Rutgers)
    Abstract for Non Ideal Measurements by David Albert (Philosophy, Columbia) and Barry Loewer (Philosophy, Rutgers) We have previously objected to "modal interpretations" of quantum theory by showing that these interpretations do not solve the measurement problem since they do not assign outcomes to non_ideal measurements. Bub and Healey replied to our objection by offering alternative accounts of non_ideal measurements. In this paper we argue first, that our account of non_ideal measurements is correct and second, that even if it is not it is very likely that interactions which we called non_ideal measurements actually occur and that such interactions possess outcomes. A defense of of the modal interpretation would either have to assign outcomes to these interactions, show that they don't have outcomes, or show that in fact they do not occur in nature. Bub and Healey show none of these. Key words: Foundations of Quantum Theory, The Measurement Problem, The Modal Interpretation, Non_ideal measurements. Non_Ideal Measurements Some time ago, we raised a number of rather serious objections to certain so_called "modal" interpretations of quantum theory (Albert and Loewer, 1990, 1991).1 Andrew Elby (1993) recently developed one of these objections (and added some of his own), and Richard Healey (1993) and Jeffrey Bub (1993) have recently published responses to us and Elby. It is the purpose of this note to explain why we think that their responses miss the point of our original objection. Since Elby's, Bub's, and Healey's papers contain excellent descriptions both of modal theories and of our objection to them, only the briefest review of these matters will be necessary here.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
    Aristotle (384-322 BCE) The Pythagoreans, Socrates, and Plato attempted to reconcile an element of human freedom with material determinism and causal law. But the first major philosopher to argue convincingly for some indeterminism was probably Aristotle. This is despite the fact that he described a causal chain back to a prime mover or first cause, and he elaborated the four possible causes (material, efficient, formal, and final). In his Physics and Metaphysics Aristotle also said there were "accidents" caused by "chance(τυχή)." In his Physics, he clearly reckoned chance among the causes. Aristotle might have added chance as a fifth cause - an uncaused or self-caused cause - that happens when two causal chains come together by accident (συμβεβεκός). He noted that the early physicists found no place for chance among the causes. Aristotle knew that many decisions were quite predictable based on habit and character, but they were no less free if one's character itself and predictable habits were developed freely in the past and were changeable in the future. This was the view of Eastern philosophies and religions. Our karma has been determined by our past actions (even from past lives), and strongly influences our current actions, but we are free to improve our karma by future good actions. As a principal architect of the concept of causality, and the formulator of the four causes, Aristotle's statements on indefinite causes are perhaps his most significant contribution to freedom, in the world and in human decisions. In his Metaphysics, Aristotle makes the case for chance and uncaused causes (causa sui) and in the Nicomachean Ethics he shows our actions can be voluntary and "up to us" so that we can be morally responsible.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics Aristotle
    Politics Aristotle Translated by Benjamin Jowett Batoche Books Kitchener 1999 Contents BOOK ONE .............................................................................. 3 BOOK TWO ........................................................................... 22 BOOK THREE ....................................................................... 51 BOOK FOUR ......................................................................... 80 BOOK FIVE ......................................................................... 108 BOOK SIX ........................................................................... 140 BOOK SEVEN ..................................................................... 152 BOOK EIGHT ...................................................................... 180 BOOK ONE Part I Every state is a community of some kind, and every community is es- tablished with a view to some good; for mankind always act in order to obtain that which they think good. But, if all communities aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the highest of all, and which embraces all the rest, aims at good in a greater degree than any other, and at the highest good. Some people think that the qualifications of a statesman, king, house- holder, and master are the same, and that they differ, not in kind, but only in the number of their subjects. For example, the ruler over a few is called a master; over more, the manager of a household; over a still larger number, a statesman or king, as if there were no difference be- tween a great household and a small state. The distinction which is made between the king and the statesman is as follows: When the government is personal, the ruler is a king; when, according to the rules of the politi- cal science, the citizens rule and are ruled in turn, then he is called a statesman. But all this is a mistake; for governments differ in kind, as will be evident to any one who considers the matter according to the method which has hitherto guided us.
    [Show full text]
  • On Perfect Friendship: an Outline and a Guide to Aristotle's Philosophy of Friendship
    Colby College Digital Commons @ Colby Honors Theses Student Research 2010 On Perfect Friendship: An Outline and a Guide to Aristotle's Philosophy of Friendship Kristen Psaty Colby College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Feminist Philosophy Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, and the Other Philosophy Commons Colby College theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed or downloaded from this site for the purposes of research and scholarship. Reproduction or distribution for commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the author. Recommended Citation Psaty, Kristen, "On Perfect Friendship: An Outline and a Guide to Aristotle's Philosophy of Friendship" (2010). Honors Theses. Paper 589. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/589 This Honors Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Colby. ON PERFECT FRIENDSHIP: An Outline and a Guide to Aristotle’s Philosophy of Friendship By Kristen Psaty Honors Thesis Philosophy Department © 2010 1 For Megan The one who brings out the best in me. To Kyle My other self . & to the ∆ΠΠ 2 “This has always been a man's world, and none of the reasons that have been offered in explanation have seemed adequate.” -Simone de Beauvoir Special Thanks to Lydia Moland, Valerie Dionne, Holly Moore and Thanks also to readers Amy Holmen and Elise Breed. 3 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………. 6 CHAPTER I. ……………………………………………………. 13 An Introduction to Aristotle on Friendship CHAPTER II.
    [Show full text]
  • Continuity and Discontinuity. an Epistemological Inquiry Based on the Use of Categories in History of Science*
    ORGANON 41:2009 Raffaele Pisano (Nantes, France) - Ilaria Gaudiello (Paris, France) CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY. AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL INQUIRY BASED ON THE USE OF CATEGORIES IN HISTORY OF SCIENCE* 1. Introduction Generally, historical inquiry proceeds according to different levels of knowledge, both scientific and humanist, and through particular methods and instruments of research, for example in the history of foundations, in the scientific-cultural attitude of a particular historical period rather than in the historical-social consequences in the history of technologies. In the last century research about the foundations of science seems to have been forwarded increasingly by programs of research more than through the implementation of a basic theory. Several competitive research programs have covered the period from the turn of the 19lh century to and throughout the 20th century. In the following we list some notes on Mach, Koyre and Kuhn to introduce the importance of the use of categories. Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach (1838-1916) generated a radically new vision of foundations of physics'. This new vision implied a deep criticism2 toward Newton mechanics, particularly with regard to the metaphysical concepts of absolute space and time. Moreover, the concept of cause-force ultimately substituted the concept of work as the fundamental concept exploited by theoretical physics as well as the human mind to the extent it engages in related theorizing activity. Therefore, although mechanics is traditionally considered to be the basic theory in theoretical physics, thermodynamics should rather play this pivotal role. The contribution supplied by Mach can thus be considered especially relevant for the history of scientific thought.
    [Show full text]
  • Craft As a Larger Pursuit of Human Happiness
    CRAFT AS A LARGER PURSUIT OF HUMAN HAPPINESS Eva Perez de Vega May 2012 CRAFT AS A LARGER PURSUIT OF HUMAN HAPPINESS ABSTRACT p. 1 ARISTOTELIAN CONCEPTION OF HAPPINESS: CRAFT AND PRUDENCE p. 2 1.1 Happiness and human function 1.2 Aristotle’s concept of craft and prudence TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED VIEW OF CRAFT AND PRUDENCE p. 9 2.1 Shortcomings of Aristotle’s perspective 2.2 Craft, prudence and affordance CRAFT AND NECESSITY p. 15 3.1 Craft prior to use: invention 3.2 Craft after use: form follows function 3.3 Use embedded in craft: affordance CONCLUSION p. 21 4.1 Structure of argument 4.2 Appropriations and assumptions BIBLIOGRAPHY & ILLUSTRATIONS p. 23 Eva Perez de Vega ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the concept of craft as it relates to the larger pursuit of human happiness. Starting with Aristotle’s conception of craft and prudence developed in the Nichomachian Ethics, we will see how they are critical to his overall view of human happiness, but also problematic when viewed in isolation. For Aristotle, craft is concerned solely with the thoughts and processes that go into making (production) while prudence deals with the thoughts and processes that go into determining its best use (activity). By providing specific examples and supported by the notion of affordance, the aim of this paper is to show that craft already embeds in its very making multiple possibilities of use, and thus encompasses a sense of prudence. The arguments presented also aim to show that Aristotle’s concept of craft and prudence recognize that human creative activity is indispensible towards achieving happiness.
    [Show full text]
  • Physics and the Philosophy of Science at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
    Physics and the Philosophy of Science at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Forthcoming in the Enciclopedia Italiana di Storia della Scienza under the title, “Fisica e Filosofia della Scienza all’Alba del XX Secolo”) I believe that philosophy can be helped to its feet again only if it devotes itself seriously and fervently to investigations of cognitive processes and the methods of science. There it has a real and legitimate task . Philosophy has obviously come to a standstill because it . still has taken no new life from the vigorous development of the natural sciences. — Hermann von Helmholtz to Adolf Fick, ca. 1875 (as quoted in Koenigsberger 1902–1903, 243) Introduction: Disciplinary Symbiosis Theoretical physics and the philosophy of science are among the most important fields of research in the twentieth century, this as gauged both by their prominence within their respective disciplines and by their broader social and intellectual impact. Yet in 1850 neither field, as we know it today, would have been recognized in the academy or elsewhere as constituting an autonomous mode of inquiry with associated institutional structures. With hindsight, each might be glimpsed in germ. Some would read Hermann von Helmholtz’s 1847 lecture, Über die Erhaltung der Kraft (Helmholtz 1848) as marking the advent of the search for generalizable explanatory structures whose deployment is a distinguishing mark of theoretical physics. Some would read Auguste Comte’s Cours de philosophie positive (1830–1842) or William Whewell’s The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840) as inaugurating the systematic study of those general questions about scientific method, the nature and limits of scientific knowledge, and the structure and interpretation of scientific theories whose focal significance later defined the field in the form made famous by the members of the Vienna Circle.
    [Show full text]
  • Taking Aristotle Seriously: Republican-Oriented Legal Theory and The
    Taking Aristotle Seriously: Republican- Oriented Legal Theory and the Moral Foundation of Deliberative Democracy Miriam Galston TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The Political Nature of Human Beings: Sacrifice or Self-Interest? ............. 339 A. Reliance on Aristotle's Statement About the Political Nature of Human Beings .............................. 340 B. The Meaning of "Nature" in Aristotle's Statement that Human Beings Are by Nature Political ................. 345 C. The Theoretical Basis for Aristotle's Statement that Human Beings Are by Nature Political ................. 349 D. Consequences of Aristotle's Interpretation of the Political Nature of Human Beings ...................... 353 II. Realizing Our Political Nature: The Approach of Contemporary Republican-Oriented Legal Theory ........... 354 A. Dialogue and the Scrutiny of Unexamined Opinion ..... 355 B. The Willingness to Talk, Listen, and Abide ............. 361 I. Realizing Our Political Nature: The Aristotelian Approach... 371 A. The Domain of Practical Reason for Aristotle and Contemporary Legal Theorists ......................... 371 B. The Dependency of Practical Reason on Character ...... 372 C. The Development of Good Character ................... 376 IV. The Consequences of Aristotle's Ideas for the Contemporary Deliberative Project ......................... 378 V. Aristotle's Reply to Contemporary Fears ................... 386 A. The Rational Capacity of Citizens ...................... 387 B. The Multiplicity of Human Types ...................... 391 Conclusion .....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness
    Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness Valia Allori Department of Philosophy, Northern Illinois University [email protected] www.valiaallori.com Abstract Quantum mechanics is a groundbreaking theory: not only it is extraordinarily empirically adequate but also it is claimed to having shattered the classical paradigm of understanding the observer-observed distinction as well as the part-whole relation. This, together with other quantum features, has been taken to suggest that quantum theory can help us understand the mind-body relation in a unique way, in particular to solve the hard problem of consciousness along the lines of panpsychism. In this paper, after having briefly presented panpsychism, I discuss the main features of quantum theories and the way in which the main quantum theories of consciousness use them to account for conscious experience. Keywords: panpsychism, dual-aspect theories; the hard problem of consciousness, orthodox quantum theory; quantum theories without observers; quantum theories of consciousness. 1. Introduction Arguably, the image of the world given by our theories has grown distant, one step after another, from the one of our everyday experience. Think of atomic theory, for instance: contrary to experience, matter is discontinuous and the world is mostly empty. Nonetheless, it was a cumulative progress, a slow refinement of our everyday concepts by our scientific understanding. This was true up to the advent of quantum mechanics, which is one of the most mind-boggling physical theories ever. It is taken by many
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotelian Philosophy Applied to Interactive Virtual Media
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Oxford Brookes University: RADAR Aristotelian philosophy applied to interactive virtual media: On the effects of transportation on the player and the practical applications of Virtual Realities. By Joshua Patterson Oxford Brookes University Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the award MA in Philosophy by research Supervisory team – Helen de Cruz and Stephen Boulter September 2017 Abstract Virtual reality is a new technology that blurs the line between what a person feels is real and knows is fake; putting the audience ‘inside’ a piece of art, a new ‘world’ that we can experience (like real life) in a first-person perspective. This technology has come about through the development of interactive virtual media, the product of ‘the evolution of poetry’ that Aristotle discovered and explained. Poetry is something that can hold and transfer meaning, specifically it is anything that can offer or represent the ‘what it is likeness’ of a particular concept or truth, this is what I refer to when I use the term ‘Poetry’. The concept of blurring the line between reality and fiction, gives rise to ‘the paradox of fiction’ and has been a component of art from its conception. We lose ourselves in a myth, a book, a song or a play, and we have emotions about imitations of (fictional) events (even though they are fictional), this losing oneself into poetry is what I will term ‘Transportation’. Virtual realities achieve this and can make us feel like we are inside a piece of art, by fully taking control of our perspective (our experiences), by putting the control of the art’s direction in our hands, and importantly, by captivating our full attention.
    [Show full text]
  • Lessons for Legal Theory from Quantum Mechanics
    Florida State University Law Review Volume 18 Issue 3 Article 7 Spring 1991 Should the Law Reflect the orld?:W Lessons for Legal Theory from Quantum Mechanics R. George Wright Cumberland School of Law, Samford University Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr Part of the Public Law and Legal Theory Commons Recommended Citation R. G. Wright, Should the Law Reflect the orld?:W Lessons for Legal Theory from Quantum Mechanics, 18 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 855 (1991) . https://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr/vol18/iss3/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida State University Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SHOULD THE LAW REFLECT THE WORLD?: LESSONS FOR LEGAL THEORY FROM QUANTUM MECHANICS R. GEORGE WRIGHT* I. INTRODUCTION T RADITIONALLY law and legal theory have been deeply influ- enced by the reigning models and metaphors of science.' Even be- fore the rise of modern science, the metaphysics of the Middle Ages was reflected in the political and legal hierarchy of medievalism. 2 The rise of Newtonian physics in turn influenced the assumptions underly- ing legal and political documents such as the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 4 Some sort of linkage between the order of being, or of what sorts of things exist, and how we ought to order our social affairs has tradi- tionally been assumed. 5 The rise of post-Newtonian physics has led 6 scientists and legal theorists to raise the question of this linkage anew.
    [Show full text]