Why Might an Instrumentalist Endorse Bohmian Mechanics?

Darrell P. ROWBOTTOM

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-99642-0_6

Why Might an Instrumentalist Endorse Bohmian Mechanics?

Darrell P. ROWBOTTOM^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Lingnan University

Research output: Book Chapters | Papers in Conference Proceedings › Book Chapter › Research › peer-review

Abstract

I show that Bohmian mechanics may be highly valued by anti-realists, such as cognitive instrumentalists, although it is typically understood to be a realist interpretation of quantum mechanics. I argue that it possesses significant theoretical virtues – and is a vehicle for fostering non-factive understanding concerning how many phenomena interrelate – even if it fails to be approximately true (or true to any significant degree in what it says about unobservable entities). I employ several examples from the history of science to illuminate and support this view.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality : Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy
Editors	Valia ALLORI
Publisher	Springer, Cham
Chapter	6
Pages	81-94
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030996420
ISBN (Print)	9783030996413
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99642-0_6
Publication status	Published - 28 Jul 2022

Publication series

Name	Synthese Library
Volume	460
ISSN (Print)	0166-6991
ISSN (Electronic)	2542-8292

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Funding

My work on this paper was supported by a GRF Grant from Hong Kong’s RGC (‘Scientific Progress: Foundational Issues’) and the Center for Foundations of Science, University of Pittsburgh (via a Visiting Fellowship). I am also grateful to David Wallace and two anonymous referees for comments on an earlier version.

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-99642-0_6

https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-99642-0_6

Cite this

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Why Might an Instrumentalist Endorse Bohmian Mechanics? / ROWBOTTOM, Darrell P.
Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality : Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy. ed. / Valia ALLORI. Springer, Cham, 2022. p. 81-94 (Synthese Library; Vol. 460).

Research output: Book Chapters | Papers in Conference Proceedings › Book Chapter › Research › peer-review