Laws of Nature and the Reality of the Wave Function
Quantum Physics
2015-03-05 v1 History and Philosophy of Physics
Abstract
In this paper I review three different positions on the wave function, namely: nomological realism, dispositionalism, and configuration space realism by regarding as essential their capacity to account for the world of our experience. I conclude that the first two positions are committed to regard the wave function as an abstract entity. The third position will be shown to be a merely speculative attempt to derive a primitive ontology from a reified mathematical space. Without entering any discussion about nominalism, I conclude that an elimination of abstract entities from one's ontology commits one to instrumentalism about the wave function, a position that therefore is not as unmotivated as it has seemed to be to many philosophers.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1503.01137,
title = {Laws of Nature and the Reality of the Wave Function},
author = {Mauro Dorato},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1503.01137},
year = {2015}
}