TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantum theology beyond Copenhagen
T2 - Taking fundamentalism literally
AU - Harris, Mark
N1 - Funding Information:
I am especially grateful to Edinburgh colleagues, James Thieke and Katia Hervy, who have done so much to support the project represented in these articles through their various administrative and editorial skills. I also want to thank three participants in our workshops for their valuable contributions, although they were unable to add to this collection of written articles: William Simpson, Bob Russell, and Kirk Wegter-McNelly. Finally, none of this would be possible without the generous financial support of the Issachar Fund, to whom I express my sincere thanks.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Theological engagement with quantum physics has, to this day, been dominated by the Copenhagen interpretation. However, philosophers and physicists working in the “quantum foundations” field have largely abandoned the Copenhagen view on account of what is widely seen as its troublesome antirealism. Other metaphysical approaches have come to the fore instead, which often take a strongly realist flavor, such as de Broglie-Bohm, or Everett's “Many-Worlds” interpretation. In the spirit of recent quantum foundations work, this article introduces a collection of studies aimed at taking quantum theology “beyond Copenhagen.” The present article advocates a commitment to “quantum fundamentalism,” which could resolve some of the enduring ontological problems faced by existing theological work with quantum mechanics, especially in discussions of quantum special divine action. Taking quantum fundamentalism literally would mean a departure from the Copenhagen interpretation, and the article suggests the need for a new research program to lay the groundwork in the natural theology of quantum foundations.
AB - Theological engagement with quantum physics has, to this day, been dominated by the Copenhagen interpretation. However, philosophers and physicists working in the “quantum foundations” field have largely abandoned the Copenhagen view on account of what is widely seen as its troublesome antirealism. Other metaphysical approaches have come to the fore instead, which often take a strongly realist flavor, such as de Broglie-Bohm, or Everett's “Many-Worlds” interpretation. In the spirit of recent quantum foundations work, this article introduces a collection of studies aimed at taking quantum theology “beyond Copenhagen.” The present article advocates a commitment to “quantum fundamentalism,” which could resolve some of the enduring ontological problems faced by existing theological work with quantum mechanics, especially in discussions of quantum special divine action. Taking quantum fundamentalism literally would mean a departure from the Copenhagen interpretation, and the article suggests the need for a new research program to lay the groundwork in the natural theology of quantum foundations.
KW - Copenhagen interpretation
KW - instrumentalism
KW - natural theology
KW - quantum fundamentalism
KW - quantum ontology
KW - quantum theology
KW - special divine action
U2 - 10.1111/zygo.12869
DO - 10.1111/zygo.12869
M3 - Article
VL - 58
SP - 183
EP - 202
JO - Zygon
JF - Zygon
SN - 0591-2385
IS - 1
ER -