Willem McLoud

Kant’s philosophy of science has been applied to quantum physics since the time when Niels Bohr formulated his interpretation of quantum physics. In recent years various Kantian interpretations of quantum physics have been put forward. One aspect that still needs further exploration is what a Kantian approach to the epistemic status of quantum entities would entail. In this paper a new kind of judgment consistent with Kant’s system, called a transcendental judgment, able to account for the real existence of quantum entities in the pre-measurement phase is discussed. The advantage of this kind of judgment is that it allows for a fine-tuning of the Kantian system to account for the discovery of quantum entities that are known to exist but whose existence can epistemologically not be accounted for in traditional Kantian philosophy. With this new kind of judgment, a wider range of possible judgments becomes available which can determine the epistemological status of concepts/ideas/theories quite carefully, discriminating between different kinds of knowledge claims.

This paper focuses on absolute spontaneity, first postulated by Immanuel Kant. In the early twentieth century spontaneity entered the domain of quantum physics when Niels Bohr included it as part of his quantum postulate. Later on, David Bohm developed the concept of a quantum potential in his description and interpretation of quantum physics, a concept that can also be understood in terms of spontaneity. A discussion of Kant’s influence on the interpretation of quantum physics is followed by a consideration of the inclusion of spontaneity in Niels Bohr’s epistemological approach to quantum mechanics and David Bohm’s quantum potential as part of his ontological approach to quantum physics. Kant’s influence on both Bohr and Bohm is examined as well as the applicability of his critical metaphysics to quantum theory. Critical metaphysics read together with Bohr and Bohm’s interpretations of quantum physics is then utilized to make some proposals with regard to the problems plaguing our best theories of physics.