Evans, Peter W. (2020) Perspectival Objectivity or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Observer-Dependent Reality. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Building on self-professed perspectival approaches to both scientific knowledge and causation, I explore the potentially radical suggestion that perspectivalism can be extended to account for a type of objectivity in science. Motivated by recent claims from quantum foundations that quantum mechanics must admit the possibility of observer-dependent facts, I develop the notion of 'perspectival objectivity', and suggest that an easier pill to swallow, philosophically speaking, than observer-dependency is perspective-dependency, allowing for a notion of observer-independence indexed to an agent perspective. Working through the case studies of colour perception and causal perspectivalism, I identify two places within which I claim perspectival objectivity is already employed, and make the connection to quantum mechanics through Bohr's philosophy of quantum theory. I contend that perspectival objectivity can ensure, despite the possibility of perspective-dependent scientific facts, the objectivity of scientific inquiry.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Evans, Peter W. p.evans@uq.edu.au 0000-0003-0214-4748
Keywords:	Perspectivalism; objectivity; observer dependency; quantum mechanics
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User:	Dr. Peter W. Evans
Date Deposited:	28 Feb 2020 02:52
Last Modified:	28 Feb 2020 02:52
Item ID:	16956
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date:	25 February 2020
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16956

Available Versions of this Item

• Perspectival Objectivity or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Observer-Dependent Reality. (deposited 05 Nov 2019 02:59)
  • Perspectival Objectivity or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Observer-Dependent Reality. (deposited 28 Feb 2020 02:52) [Currently Displayed]

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