Non-Representationalist Theories of Knowledge and Quantum Mechanics

Bitbol, Michel (2001) Non-Representationalist Theories of Knowledge and Quantum Mechanics.

Abstract

Quantum Mechanics has imposed strain on traditional (dualist and representationalist) epistemological conceptions. An alternative was offered by Bohr and Heisenberg, according to whom natural science does not describe nature, but rather the interplay between nature and ourselves. But this was only a suggestion. In this paper, a systematic development of the Bohr-Heisenberg conception is outlined, by way of a comparison with the modern self-organizational theories of cognition. It is shown that a consistent non-representationalist (and/or relational) reading of quantum mechanics can be reached thus.