English

Incomplete yet existent objects: a Nuclear Meinongian approach to quantum metaphysical indeterminacy

Quantum Physics 2025-10-22 v1 History and Philosophy of Physics

Abstract

This article proposes a reading of quantum metaphysical indeterminacy from the perspective of Parsons' Nuclear Meinongianism. In doing so, we identify a fundamental incompatibility between a key feature of Parsons' theory and standard quantum mechanics. Our approach interprets quantum indeterminacy as property incompleteness. However, this move, when combined with Parsons' framework, leads to what we term the ``Incompleteness-Entails-Nonexistence Principle'' (IENP), which implausibly entails the nonexistence of quantum objects. For Meinongianism to be a suitable tool for the metaphysics of quantum mechanics, this principle must be addressed. We argue for dropping the IENP and discuss the resulting metaphysical and metametaphysical consequences.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.18111,
  title  = {Incomplete yet existent objects: a Nuclear Meinongian approach to quantum metaphysical indeterminacy},
  author = {Raoni Arroyo and Renato Semaniuc Valvassori},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.18111},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Forthcoming in Principia

R2 v1 2026-07-01T06:56:36.309Z