Abstract
The philosophical debate about quantum logic between the late 1960s and the early 1980s was generated mainly by Putnam's claims that quantum mechanics empirically motivates introducing a new form of logic, that such an empirically founded quantum logic is the `true' logic, and that adopting quantum logic would resolve all the paradoxes of quantum mechanics. Most of that debate focussed on the latter claim, reaching the conclusion that it was mistaken. This chapter will attempt to clarify the possible misunderstandings surrounding the more radical claims about the revision of logic, assessing them in particular both in the context of more general quantum-like theories (in the framework of von Neumann algebras), and against the background of the current state of play in the philosophy and interpretation of quantum mechanics. Characteristically, the conclusions that might be drawn depend crucially on which of the currently proposed solutions to the measurement problem is adopted.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Handbook of quantum logic and quantum structures |
Subtitle of host publication | quantum logic |
Editors | Kurt Engesser, Dov Gabbay, Daniel Lehmann |
Place of Publication | Amsterdam |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Pages | 49-78 |
Number of pages | 30 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780444528698 , 0444528695 |
Publication status | Published - 26 Nov 2009 |
Keywords
- quantum logic
- empirical logic