Immanent Powers versus Causal Powers (Propensities, Latencies and Dispositions) in Quantum Mechanics

TL;DR

This paper compares two philosophical notions of 'power'—immanent and causal—in quantum mechanics, arguing that immanent power offers a novel, advantageous perspective grounded in rational potentiality.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of immanent power based on rational potentiality and contrasts it with causal power rooted in irrational potentiality, offering a new interpretative approach for quantum theory.

Findings

Immanent power relates to rational potentiality and offers new interpretative insights.

Causal power is associated with irrational potentiality and is common in existing interpretations.

The paper highlights fundamental differences between the two notions of 'power' in quantum mechanics.

Abstract

In this paper we compare two different notions of 'power', both of which attempt to provide a realist understanding of quantum mechanics grounded on the potential mode of existence. For this propose we will begin by introducing two different notions of potentiality present already within Aristotelian metaphysics, namely, irrational potentiality and rational potentiality. After discussing the role played by potentiality within classical and quantum mechanics, we will address the notion of causal power which is directly related to irrational potentiality and has been adopted by many interpretations of QM. We will then present the notion of immanent power which relates to rational potentiality and argue that this new concept presents important advantages regarding the possibilities it provides for understanding in a novel manner the theory of quanta. We end our paper with a comparison between both notions of 'power', stressing some radical differences between them.