Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-03T23:15:26.827Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Einstein and Bohr's Rhetoric of Complementarity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Mara Beller
Mara Beller
Affiliation:
Program in History and Philosophy of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a critical perspective for Einstein's opposition to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, by analyzing the ingenious rhetoric of Bohr's principle of complementarity. I argue that what Bohr presents as arguments of “inevitability” are in fact merely arguments for the consistency of the quantum-mechanical scheme. Einstein's resistance to being persuaded by this potent technique of argumentation, and his rejection of Bohr's interpretation of quantum physics, appear consequently as an eminently reasonable position and not as a conservative stand, as it is often presented by the adherents of the Copenhagen orthodoxy.

Type
The Philosophical Context
Information
Science in Context , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 241 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AHPQ = Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, assembled and edited by Kuhn, T. S., Heilbron, J., and Forman, P..Google Scholar
Belier, M. 1983. “Matrix Theory before Schrodinger: Problems, Philosophy, Consequences.” Isis 74:469–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belier, M. 1990. “Born's Probabilistic Interpretation: A Case Study of ‘Concepts in Flux’. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 21 (4): 563–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belier, M. 1992a. “The Birth of Bohr's Complementarity: The Context and the Dialogues.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 23(1):147–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belier, M. 1992b. “Towards Elucidation of Bohr's Philosophy of Physics.” Unpublished manuscript, in progress.Google Scholar
Belier, M. Forthcoming. “Kant's Impact on Einstein's Thought.” In Einstein, The Early Years: Proceedings of the 1990 Osgood Hill Conference, North Andover, Massachusetts, 4–6 October 1990, edited by Howard, D. and Stachel, J.. Boston: Birkhäuser.Google Scholar
Beller, M. and Fine, A.. Forthcoming. “Bohr's Response to E–P–R.” In Bohr and Contemporary Philosophy, edited by Faye, J. and Folse, H.. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Boston:Kiuwer.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1928. “The Recent Developments in Atomic Theory and the Quantum Postulate.” Atti del Congresso Internazionale dei Fisici, Como, Settembre 1927. Reprinted in Bohr's Collected Works vol. 6, Amsterdam: North Holland. This version is somewhat different from the one in Nature 121 (1928):580–90.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. [1929] 1934. “The Atomic Theory and the Fundamental Principles Underlying the Description of Nature.” Lecture delivered at the Scandinavian Meeting of Natural Scientists. Published in Danish in Fysik Tidsskr English version in Bohr 1934, 102–19.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1930. “Philosophical Aspects of Atomic Theory.” Address to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Bohr Manuscript Collection, AHQP.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1931.“Space–Time Description and Conservation Principles,” Bohr Manuscript Collection, AHQP.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1934. Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1935. “Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?” Physical Review 48:696–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohr, N. 1937. The Hitchcock Lectures, University of California, Berkeley, March. Manuscript in the Raymond Birge Collection, American Institute of Physics.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1939. “The Causality Problem in Atomic Physics. In New Theories in Physics. International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1948. Summary of the Gifford Lectures, Bohr Manuscript Collection, AHQP.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1949a. “Discussion with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics.” In Albert Einstein: Philosopher–Scientist, edited by Schilpp, P. A., 201–41. Library of Living Philosophers. Evanston, Ill.:Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1949b. “On the Notions of Causality and Complementarity.” Dialectica, 2:312–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohr, N. 1950. Summary of the Gifford Lectures, Bohr Manuscript Collection, AHQP.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1957a. Postscript to “Discussions with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics,” Bohr Manuscript Collection, AHQP.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1957b. “Position and Terminology in Atomic Physics,” Bohr Manuscript Collection, AHQP.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1958. Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. New York:Wiley.Google Scholar
Bohr, N. 1963. Essays 1958–1962 on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. London:Wiley.Google Scholar
Born, N. 1971. The Born–Einstein Letters. New York: Walter and Co.Google Scholar
Einstein, A. [1954]. “Physik und Realität.” Journal of the Franklin Institute 221:313–17. Translated as “Physics and Reality,” in The Born–Einstein Letters. 349–82. Reprinted in Einstein 1954, 290–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einstein, A. 1948. “Quantenmechanik und Wirklichkeit.” Dialectica 2:320–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einstein, A. 1949. “Autobiographical Notes,” in Schilpp 1949, 3–94.Google Scholar
Einstein, A. 1953. “Elementare Überlegungen zur Interpretation der Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik,” In Scient Papers Presented to Max Born, 33–40. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.Google Scholar
Einstein, A. 1954. Ideas and Opinions. New York: Crown.Google Scholar
Faye, J. 1991. Niels Bohr: His Heritage and Legacy. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feyerabend, P. 1975. Against Method. London:New Left Books.Google Scholar
Fine, A. 1986. The Shaky Game: Einstein, Realism and the Quantum Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Heilbron, T. 1988. “The Earliest Missionaries of the Copenhagen Spirit.” In Science in Reflection, edited by Uliman-Margalit, E., 201–33. Dordrecht:Kiuwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heisenberg, W. 1927. “Uber den anschaulichen Inhalt der Quantentheoretischen Kinematik und Mechanik.” Zeitschr für Physik 43:172–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heisenberg, W. 1930. The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Heisenberg, W. 1959. Physics and Philosophy. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Heisenberg, W. 1973. “Development of Concepts in the History of Quantum Theory.” In The Physicists' Conception of Nature, edited by Mehra, J. Dordrecht: Reidel.Google Scholar
Holton, G. 1991. “Quanta, Relativity, and Rhetoric.” In Persuading Science: The Art of Scient Rhetoric, edited by Pera, M. and Shea, W. R.. Science History Publications.Google Scholar
Honner, J. 1987. The Description of Nature: Niels Bohr and the Philosophy of Quantum Physics. London: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Howard, D. A. Forthcoming. “Was Einstein Really a Realist?” In Realismo, empiricismo, constructivismo: L'epistemologia contemporanea eilprogresso scientifico edited by Pagnini, Alessandro. Florence.Google Scholar
Jammer, M. 1980. “Einstein and Quantum Physics.” In Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives, The Centennial Symposium in Jerusalem, edited by Holton, G. and Elkana, Y..Google Scholar
Keiser, D. 1992. “More Roots of Complementarity: Kantian Aspects and Influences.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 23:213–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdoch, D. 1987. Niels Bohr's Philosophy of Physics. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pais, A. 1982. “Subtle Is the Lord “: The Science and the L of Albert Einstein. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pais, A. 1991. “Niels Bohr's Times.” In Physics, Philosophy and Polity. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Pauli, W. 1973. Pauli's Lectures on Physics. Vol.5: Wave Mechanics, edited by Enz, C. E.. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, L. 1961. “Foundations of Quantum Theory and Complementarity.” Nature 190:384–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schilpp, P. A. 1949. Albert Einstein: Philosopher–Scientist. Evanston, Ill.: The Library of Living Philosophers.Google Scholar
Stachel, J. 1986. “Einstein and the Quantum: Fifty Years of Struggle.” In From Quarks to Quasars: Philosophical Problems of Modern Physics, edited by Colodny, R. G.. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar