Taking Heisenberg's Potentia Seriously

TL;DR

This paper proposes an ontological duality of res extensa and res potentia to better understand quantum phenomena, offering a new perspective that addresses key conceptual challenges like nonlocality and wave function collapse.

Contribution

It introduces a dual ontological framework based on Heisenberg's potentia, avoiding classical dualism and explaining quantum phenomena without the mind-body problem.

Findings

Provides a natural account of quantum nonlocality and entanglement.

Reassesses ontological commitments about space and time.

Addresses wave function collapse and null measurements.

Abstract

It is argued that quantum theory is best understood as requiring an ontological duality of res extensa and res potentia, where the latter is understood per Heisenberg's original proposal, and the former is roughly equivalent to Descartes' 'extended substance.' However, this is not a dualism of mutually exclusive substances in the classical Cartesian sense, and therefore does not inherit the infamous 'mind-body' problem. Rather, res potentia and res extensa are proposed as mutually implicative ontological extants that serve to explain the key conceptual challenges of quantum theory; in particular, nonlocality, entanglement, null measurements, and wave function collapse. It is shown that a natural account of these quantum perplexities emerges, along with a need to reassess our usual ontological commitments involving the nature of space and time.