Abstract
Quantum mechanics without the collapse postulate, the bare theory, was proposed by Albert (1992) as a way of understanding Everett's relative-state formulation of quantum mechanics. The basic idea is to try to account for an observer's beliefs by appealing to a type of illusion predicted by the bare theory. This paper responds to some recent objections to the bare theory by providing a more detailed description of the sense in which it can and the sense in which it cannot account for our experience.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Albert, D. Z.: 1992, Quantum Mechanics and Experience, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Albert, D. Z. and B. Loewer: 1988, ,Interpreting the Many Worlds Interpretation', Synthese 77, 195–213.
Barrett, J.: 1996, ,Empirical Adequacy and the Availability of Reliable Records in Quantum Mechanics', Philosophy of Science 63, 49–64.
Barrett, J.: 1994, ,The Suggestive Properties of Quantum Mechanics without the Collapse Postulate', Erkenntnis 41, 233–252.
Bub, J., R. Clifton, and B. Monton: forthcoming, ,The Bare Theory has no Clothes', Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science.
DeWitt, B. S.: 1971, ,The Many Universes Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics', in Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Academic Press, New York; reprinted in DeWitt and Graham (1973).
DeWitt, B. S. and N. Graham (eds.): 1973, The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Everett, H.,III: 1957, ,“Relative State” Formulation of Quantum Mechanics', Reviews of Modern Physics 29, 454–62; reprinted in DeWitt and Graham (eds.).
Everett, H., III: 1973, ,Theory of the Universal Wave Function', in DeWitt and Graham (eds.).
Graham, N.: 1973, ,The Measurement of Relative Frequency', in DeWitt and Graham (eds.), 1973.
Hartle, J. B.: 1968, ,Quantum Mechanics of Individual Systems', in American Journal of Physics 36(8), 704–12.
von Neumann, J.: 1932, Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik, Springer, Berlin; reprinted and translated as Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, translated by R. Beyer, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1955.
Weinstein, S.: 1996, ,Undermined', Synthese 106(2), 241–251.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barrett, J.a. On the Nature of Experience in the Bare Theory. Synthese 113, 347–355 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004983313200
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004983313200