SMuK 2023 – scientific programme

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 8: Quantum Foundations 4

AGPhil 8.2: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 23, 2023, 11:45–12:30, JAN/0027

Does science need intersubjectivity? The problem of confirmation in orthodox interpretations of quantum mechanics — •Emily Adlam — University of Western Ontario

Any successful interpretation of quantum mechanics must explain how our empirical evidence allows us to come to know about quantum mechanics. In this talk I will argue that this vital criterion is not met by the class of orthodox interpretations, which includes QBism, neo-Copenhagen interpretations, and some versions of relational quantum mechanics. I will take a detailed look at the way in which belief-updating might work in the kind of universe postulated by an orthodox interpretation, and argue that observers in such a universe are unable to escape their own perspective in order to learn about the structure of the set of perspectives that is supposed to make up reality according to these interpretations. I will also argue that in some versions of these interpretations it is not even possible to use one's own relative frequencies for empirical confirmation.