Several contemporary interpretations of quantum mechanics use the concept of information as a tool for addressing and explaining the quantum world. In the article, I focus on Zeilinger-Brukner's ...informational foundations of quantum theory (IFQT). I propose that with a phenomenological approach—which, unlike most of the contemporary interpretations of quantum mechanics, exceeds the mere dichotomy between realism and anti-realism—we can address the epistemological questions re-opened by IFQT and the parts of the interpretation that are recognized as problematic by its critics. After the phenomenological supplementation IFQT can provide both, ontic and epistemic answer to the question "Why quantum?" As we apply Husserl's concept of the world as our common objective ground to the IFQT explanation, we can make a justifiable step away from the solipsism/subjectivism, which is, according to the critics, the main problem of IFQT. Thus, I propose in conclusion, a phenomenological approach to quantum physics can offer a background for the much needed dialog between realists and anti-realists as well as for a comprehensive contemporary interpretation of the quantum world.
...the denialism of ageing prevents us to openly discuss ageing, to project our own old age and direct our society into an inclusive, intergenerational future. ...it is necessary to identify how ...denialism presents itself within contemporary society and to identify pedagogical praxes with the potential to address denialism and to help us overcome it. According to Eviatar Zerubavel, fear is one of the main causes of denialism. According to Zerubavel, conspiracies of silence do not revolve around "largely unnoticeable matters we simply overlook," instead we crave to deny crucial aspects of our reality, which actually beg for our attention (2006, 9). Ageing, an indispensable part of our subjective and inter-subjective reality, is recognized as a burden. ...any comprehensive attempts to address our personal attitude towards ageing as part of our identity, of our perception of the world and the others, and any comprehensive attempts to
Zeilinger-Brukner's informational foundations of quantum theory, a theory based on Zeilinger's foundational principle for quantum mechanics that an elementary system carried one bit of information, ...explains seemingly unintuitive quantum behavior with simple theoretical framework. It is based on the notion that distinction between reality and information cannot be made, therefore they are the same. As the critics of informational foundations of quantum theory show, this antirealistic move captures the theory in tautology, where information only refers to itself, while the relationships outside the information with the help of which the nature of information would be defined are lost and the questions "Whose information? Information about what?" cannot be answered. The critic's solution is a return to realism, where the observer's effects on the information are neglected. We show that radical antirealism of informational foundations of quantum theory is not necessary and that the return to realism is not the only way forward. A comprehensive approach that exceeds mere realism and antirealism is also possible: we can consider both sources of the constraints on the information, those coming from the observer and those coming from the observed system/nature/reality. The information is always the observer's information about the observed. Such a comprehensive philosophical approach can still support the theoretical framework of informational foundations of quantum theory: If we take that one bit is the smallest amount of information in the form of which the observed reality can be grasped by the observer, we can say that an elementary system (grasped and defined as such by the observer) correlates to one bit of information. Our approach thus explains all the features of the quantum behavior explained by informational foundations of quantum theory: the wave function and its collapse, entanglement, complementarity and quantum randomness. However, it does so in a more comprehensive and intuitive way. The presented approach is close to Husserl's explanation of the relationship between reality and the knowledge we have about it, and to Bohr's personal explanation of quantum mechanics, the complexity of which has often been missed and simplified to mere antirealism. Our approach thus reconnects phenomenology with contemporary philosophy of science and introduces the comprehensive approach that exceeds mere realism and antirealism to the field of quantum theories with informational foundations, where such an approach has not been taken before. Quanta 2014; 3: 32–42.
Salman Rushdie and Umberto Eco, two of the most established authors of the contemporary novel, both design their novels as complex reflections of the contemporary environment, usually by combining ...elements from other fields of human cognition (e.g. science and philosophy) and from the social and political reality. In Rushdie’s first novel – Grimus – and in Eco’s latest novel – The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana – the main theme that connects these elements is the problem of time. Through the literary plot, both authors develop detailed and unique concepts of time by utilizing elements from contemporary philosophy and science (especially physics and cognitive science). In both novels, time, although in quite different contexts, is essentially connected with the human defined by his being-in-time. Only as a finite being can a human being design himself as a complete and authentic Da-sein, if we use a phrase from Heidegger’s philosophy.
Butalske zgodbe Frana Milčinskega so besedilo, ki od nastanka do danes nagovarja široko bralsko občinstvo. Iz literarnega prostora so stopili v druge medije, jezik in folkloro. Temeljit ...literarnoteoretski pretres so doživeli šele v zadnjih desetletjih, ko je Barbara Simoniti v njih prepoznala nonsensno besedilo. Skozi hermenevtično analizo prepoznavam Butalce kot besedilo, ki gradi na številnih referencah, od ljudskega slovstva do Biblije, in odpira temeljna vprašanja, od odnosa med opazovalcem in opazovanim do odnosa med družbo in drugim. Vse te elemente omogoča dejstvo, da gre za besedilo, ki je v svojem bistvu komično in hkrati ambivalentno ̶ vsakokratna analiza vedno pušča nek nedoločljiv ostanek.
Ko so ga leta 2012 sprejeli v American Physical Society, so odločitev pospremili z obrazložitvijo: »for powerful theorems and lucid expositions that culminated in the view of quantum theory known as ...QBism«. Nobody today writing about quantum mechanics combines poetry and analysis to better effect than Chris Fuchs ... the 500 pages that follow are long on poetry and short on analysis, but search on »Fuchs« will uncover . many examples where the balance is more even. Slednjega danes poznamo predvsem kot ključno figuro pri razvoju formulacije kvantne mehanike, a ga je v času njegovega delovanja, ko je bil dialog med njim in sodobniki še živ, sodelavec Werner Heisenberg označil prvenstveno kot filozofa, šele nato kot fizika (pri tem nikakor ne gre za negativno oznako, ki bi jo takšen opis predstavljal nekaj desetletij kasneje ob pretrganju vezi med filozofijo in fiziko znotraj t. i. shut up and calculate obdobja): Bohr was primarily a philosopher, not a physicist, but he understood that natural philosophy in our day and age carries weight only if its every detail can be subjected to the inexorable test of experiment. Kot zapišeta John B. DeBrota in Blake C. Stacey v naboru dejstev o QBismu, je QBism »an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which the ideas of agent and experience are fundamental«.3 Kar je bistveno skupno Fuchsu in Husserlovemu fenomenološkemu pristopu, je obenem tudi tisto, kar je pri Fuchsu pomembna novost, ki jo vnaša v sodobno razpravo na področju možne interpretacije kvantnih pojavov: povezava med epistemološkim in ontološkim pogledom, ki upošteva tako zmožnosti in aktivnosti tistega, ki spoznava, kot naravo in način dajanja tistega, kar je spoznavano.
Niels Bohr, considered one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, formulated a complex interpretation of quantum mechanics that guided his understanding of quantum experiments. The contemporary dispute ...between realism and anti-realism, the two main approaches to the interpretation of quantum mechanics,is often based on different attitudes towards or even readings of Bohr. We propose that a better understanding of Bohr’s philosophical thought can contribute to the contemporary reconciliation of these opposing philosophical views and thus to a better understanding of the quantum world. Unfortunately,in many contemporary interpretations, Bohr’s philosophical approach to quantum mechanics has been misunderstood, re-interpreted or labelled as ambiguous. This is mostly due to the dispersion of Bohr’s complex and unique interpretation through different texts, never united in a single systematically conceptualized work. To comprehensively explain Bohr’s philosophical approach and his main philosophical concepts, we consider the many similarities between Bohr’s and Husserl’s philosophical approach to science. Husserl developed his philosophical standpoint in a cultural context similar to Bohr’s and shared Bohr’s objects of philosophical consideration as well as his approach to these objects.Parallel reading of Bohr’s and Husserl’s texts reveals the closeness between Bohr’s ontological realism—epistemological anti-realism standpoint and Husserl’s phenomenological standpoint. This explains their similar views on the relationship between mathematical language, scientific method and Nature.While Bohr’s use of the term phenomenon is not equal to Husserl’s, Husserl’s rigorous philosophical explanation of the term helps us to better understand Bohr’s use. Furthermore, the parallel reading facilitates better understanding of one of Bohr’s main philosophical theses, often labelled as ambiguous and interpreted in different ways, that it is necessary to use classical concepts to describe quantum phenomena.We claim that the thesis is connected with the advance of epistemological reconsideration of science at the time of Bohr’s writing. Thus, Bohr considers some parts of argumentation as self-evident,while they are not evident to the contemporary reader. Husserl’s analysis of the relationship between science and the life-world offers a much-needed background for a comprehensive understanding of Bohr’s thesis. The insight into the similarities between Bohr’s and Husserl’s philosophical approach to science and scientific phenomena enables a philosophically rigorous reading of Bohr’s texts; it can eliminate some of the disagreements between realists and anti-realists and provide a firmer philosophical ground for a dialog between them.
On Human Nature and Philosophical Reflection of Scientific Progress - It is likely that our future will be transformed by profound changes in our knowledge and abilities in the realm of biology. New ...methods have made it possible to edit genetic information quickly and cheaply, and it seems inevitable that human genome editing will become a part of our future. However, public discussions reveal that such a potential future is feared by a large part of society, which questions whether human genome editing will change the nature of humanity. Now is the time for philosophy to enter and lead the dialogue between society and science, and to offer not only the reconsideration of our new knowledge and ethical dimensions of its potential applications, but, even more importantly, the reconsideration of the concept of human nature and our fear of human genome editing as such. To successfully integrate new biological technology into our society, it is vital not just to better understand our science, but to better understand ourselves.
New methods have made it possible to edit genetic information quickly and cheaply, and it seems inevitable that human genome editing will become a part of our future. ...public discussions reveal ...that such a potential future is feared by a large part of society, which questions whether human genome editing will change the nature of humanity. ...is the time for philosophy to enter and lead the dialogue between society and science, and to offer not only the reconsideration of our new knowledge and ethical dimensions of its potential applications, but, even more importantly, the reconsideration of the concept of human nature and our fear of human genome editing as such. Key words: philosophy of biology, human nature, gene editing, evolution, species, Charles Darwin.
The systematic assessment of children's and youth literature in Slovenia started with the establishment of the first Slovenian children and youth literature journals-Otrok in knjiga Child and book in ...1972 and Šolska knjižnica School library in 1991-which published recommendations, assessments, and reviews of selected titles.Since 1998, an independent systematic assessment has been made annually by an expert committee gathered around Pionirska, center for youth literature and librarianship, Ljubljana City Library.The Golden Pear is the first literary award for nonfiction for children and youth in Slovenia.Since its establishment, The Manual has served as a catalyst for expert evaluation of nonfiction for children and youth, which lead to the observation of its alarming decline in quality and quantity.According to sales numbers provided by Mladinska knjiga publishing house in 2016, the number of copies of From Genes to Stars matched the sale numbers for the top 20 best-selling titles for youth in the past five years.
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