Goyal, Philip (2025) Systematizing the Interpretation of Quantum Theory via Reconstruction. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, 115 (10210).

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Abstract

For a century, quantum theory has posed a fundamental challenge to philosophical thinking. On its face, it repudiates many of the key features of the mechanical conception of physical reality. However, the challenge of developing a precise, coherent alternative to that conception has yet to be met. Here, I argue that a major hindrance to the project of quantum interpretation is its existing interpretative methodologies, which suffer from a lack of systematicity in their judgements about what aspects of the theory are interpretational relevant. In particular, I argue that current interpretations tend to marginalize the informal part of the theory in favour of its formal part, and place inappropriate emphasis on the natural language component of the formalism over its detailed mathematical structure. To counterbalance these biases, I propose that an interpretation-free zone be constructed around the theory, wherein an interpreter initially adopt a descriptive stance which considers all parts of the theory, and that the results of this deliberation~(and the judgements about what facts are interpretationally relevant) are reported as part of their interpretation.

I argue that the interpretation of quantum theory poses special challenges and difficulties which necessitate this interpretation-free zone, and that existing interpretative methodologies are insufficient to address them. Further, I argue that a reconstructive interpretative methodology, which harnesses the recent results of the quantum reconstruction program, provides a powerful means to identify almost all facts that could be interpretationally relevant, and naturally meets these challenges and difficulties. Moreover, I argue that the quantum reconstruction program offers a powerful way to discover new physical principles, and offers a systematic pathway to build a rich, coherent conception of quantum reality.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Goyal, Philip pgoyal@albany.edu
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Computation/Information > Quantum General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User:	Dr Philip Goyal
Date Deposited:	26 Dec 2025 14:02
Last Modified:	26 Dec 2025 14:02
Item ID:	27572
Journal or Publication Title:	Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science
DOI or Unique Handle:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102100
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Computation/Information > Quantum General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date:	24 December 2025
Volume:	115
Number:	10210
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/27572

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