Four strategies for dealing with the counting anomaly in spontaneous collapse theories of quantum mechanics
International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 17 (2):137 – 142 (2003)
| Abstract | A few years ago, I argued that according to spontaneous collapse theories of quantum mechanics, arithmetic applies to macroscopic objects only as an approximation. Several authors have written articles defending spontaneous collapse theories against this charge, including Bassi and Ghirardi, Clifton and Monton, and now Frigg. The arguments of these authors are all different and all ingenious, but in the end I think that none of them succeeds, for reasons I elaborate here. I suggest a fourth line of response, based on an analogy with epistemic paradoxes, which I think is the best way to defend spontaneous collapse theories, and which leaves my main thesis intact. | |||||||||
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Gordon Belot (2012). Quantum States for Primitive Ontologists. European Journal for Philosophy of Science 2 (1):67-83.
Jeffrey A. Barrett (1994). The Suggestive Properties of Quantum Mechanics Without the Collapse Postulate. Erkenntnis 41 (2):233 - 252.
Bradley Monton (2004). The Problem of Ontology for Spontaneous Collapse Theories. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B 35 (3):407-421.
Peter J. Lewis (2003). Quantum Mechanics and Ordinary Language: The Fuzzy Link. Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1437-1446.
Peter J. Lewis (2003). Quantum Mechanics and Ordinary Language: The Fuzzy Link. Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1437-1446.
Roman Frigg (2003). On the Property Structure of Realist Collapse Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics and the so-Called "Counting Anomaly". International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 17 (1):43 – 57.
Peter J. Lewis (2005). Interpreting Spontaneous Collapse Theories. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B 36 (1):165-180.
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