Quantum Theory: The Final Phase of Modern Science

“You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time”

-Albert Einstein

Quantum mechanics is unique because unlike other branches of science that came before it, it concerns itself primarily with phenomena that we cannot see with the naked eye because its subjects in question are so small, they are beyond the reach of our human sense experience. Quantum theory is special because it links us to subject matter (atoms and subatomic particles) that is universal, subject matter that is common to us all as living beings and everything we perceive around us. Moreover, it accounts for the randomness and chance events that occur in nature, or rather the “incidental causes” that Aristotle was so careful to outline in his theory of causality in Physics.

With the Russia-Ukraine war taking place currently, I felt that it would be in our common interest to reflect on a topic that can potentially bring our species together as one whole collectively. A topic that holds the intrinsic power to unite us in our humanity with the hope of helping (in some very small way) to harmonize a conflict that simply cannot be guided by practical reason alone. Therefore, in the following paragraphs I will humbly attempt to shed some pure reason on this phenomenon (war) from my bird’s eye view, for the purpose of drawing some logical conclusions about the matter involved.

Universal laws are important because they have the potential to connect us to the four main primary causes, the principles that can potentially lead us to some of the most defining questions and answers about the thing in question. I reinforce the word “potentially” here because some of these sources of causation correspond with the metaphysical world. A world that is itself, based on principles which “transcend the limits of all experience thus no longer acknowledge any empirical test” (5) according to German physicist, Immanuel Kant, who attempted to deconstruct this branch of philosophy in his Critique of Pure Reason, published in 1781. In his preface, Kant notes that “there was a time when metaphysics was called the queen of all sciences” (5) which is interestingly the same title that Galileo gives to theology in his Letter to the Grand Duchess of Christina in 1615. Thus, we see an irrefutable connection between religion and metaphysics in which the final phase of both ancient and modern science is religion essentially.

Aristotle thought it was important to distinguish very specifically between “incidental” causes and the four “primary” causes because things that occur by chance or spontaneity are “contrary to the rule” in that they are not the official cause of anything “without qualification” (245). The main difference is that the four primary causes are “determinate” according to Aristotle who argues that although chance and spontaneity belong in the same general category as causation, they still need to be considered distinct from the four main primary causes because they are an entirely different source of causation “in which the number of possible causes is infinite” for such phenomena (247). And much like quantum theory itself, chance and spontaneity can never precede the primary causes which means that they will always come after the existence of the four causes, without exception.

If we now observe quantum theory within this context, more specifically, the behaviour of matter and energy on a subatomic level, we can see why these processes would be considered incidental causes according to Aristotle's definition. This means that any knowledge we derive from present-day quantum physics must be considered distinct from knowledge derived from classical physics because it is dealing with an area of science (metaphysics) that comes after the primary causes. Conversely, classical physics can be described as causal because it allows us to make more determinate predictions about the subject matter in question. It can also lead to more conclusive analysis because we are using our sense experience and the interactions we have with this reality to gain our knowledge about the world. Quantum theory does not fall under this category because our senses cannot detect the subject matter in question within this framework, therefore, we cannot make predictions with the same accuracy as we can using classical methods.

Perhaps one of the most important conclusions to draw from this discussion would be to recognize that the most destructive nuclear weapons in creation currently, were born from a branch of quantum physics (nuclear physics) that is by no means a natural science because universal laws do not apply to this branch of science. In other words, there is nothing natural about the research, development or production of atomic bombs or atomic bombs themselves since human-made radioactivity is indisputably artificial because it does not exist in nature. Simply stated, it always has been and always will be, highly unnatural for humans to be able to blow each other's cities and its inhabitants to smithereens because no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to find purpose in the devastation and trauma that occurs as a result of these weapons of mass destruction. This contrasts inventions and

technology born from classical physics because you will always be able to trace these innovations back to first causes which gives purpose to the subject (matter) in question.

Based on these speculations, during times of war, it is highly illogical then, for political leaders to be making decisions based on practical reason and empirical knowledge (posteriori knowledge) alone because as Heisenberg reminds us in Physics and Philosophy “we have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning. Our scientific work in physics consists in asking questions about nature in a language that we possess and trying to get answers from experiment by using the means that are at our disposal” (57). Not only does this mean that our scientific relationship with nature is in fact, subjective, but it also means that quantum theory itself, is founded on principles which contradict the laws of classical physics.

Practical reasoning is governed primarily by human-made laws and conventions which are rules of conduct and behaviour that have been established based on presupposed assumptions about our human nature and our nature in civil society. If we use practical reasoning to determine how to act during war, then we are making decisions with an end goal already in mind which may or may not include a moral assessment of the situation at hand. Pure reason on the other hand, requires speculative thought and contemplates universal principles that can give us a much more purposeful understanding of the conflict in question. Furthermore, pure reasoning is based on non-contradictory knowledge that is independent from experience which means that any conclusions drawn from this deductive thinking will be nonarbitrary and authentic in essence. Once we have applied this logic, we may even notice that our sense experience has changed too, which allows us to perceive our political environments in a much brighter light because our energy source was purer and more direct.

In Physics and Philosophy, Heisenberg reminds his readers that ancient Greek philosophy “tried to find order in the infinite variety of things by looking for some fundamental unifying principle” (73), which in my opinion is a very logical starting point for those interested in either finding or establishing order. Disturbingly, our modern science has, in many ways, accomplished the very opposite of this since Descartes’ new mathematical methods were introduced in the 1600s, particularly his Cartesian system which separated the body, mind, and soul into three very distinct parts that existed independently from one another.

In conclusion, order never has and never can be found through division. It is our common energy that connects us and this energy is grounded in universal laws that govern our actions and interactions on earth. And although we may often feel like our energy is working in opposition to the energy around us, we must remind ourselves that all the most fundamental elements (water, earth, air, fire) also have contradictory tendencies and traits and it is these contradictory characteristics that oddly, bring them in harmony with each other.

Sincerely,

Heather

Note: This post was inspired by recent seminar discussions with my LBST325 class, pre-Socratic philosophers, and last but not least, my Canadian and global patriotism and never-ending desire for world peace.

Aristotle, The Basic Works of Aristotle, ed. and with introduction by Richard McKeon. 2009. Modern Library.

Heisenberg, Werner. Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. 1958. London. George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason, ed. and translated by Marcus Weigelt. 2007. New York, New York. Penguin Books Ltd.