On "agential realism" and ontology of quantum mechanics

TL;DR

This paper critically examines Karen Barad's 'agential realism' in the context of quantum mechanics and social theory, proposing a contextual quantum realism as a more suitable ontological framework.

Contribution

It offers a critique of agential realism and introduces an alternative contextual quantum realism that better accounts for ontological sensitivity and dualisms.

Findings

Agential realism is a flawed interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Contextual quantum realism better explains ontological sensitivity.

The approach clarifies Bohr's and Rovelli's positions.

Abstract

K. Barad proposes "agential realism" as a unified approach to natural and social phenomena. The position is inspired by quantum mechanics and in particular the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. Barad also sees similarities between her approach, N. Bohr's view and C. Rovelli's relational quantum mechanics. In our view, agential realism is a kind of ontological correlationism, not a realism. The analogy with the Bohr and Rovelli approaches is only partial. Agential realism is a wrong interpretation of quantum mechanics. It is also unsuitable for social theorizing, for which taking into account the sensitivity of ontology to the context is fundamental. As an alternative, we propose a contextual quantum realism that rejects substantive dualisms (as does Barad), but at the same time accepts the categorical dualism of the real and the ideal. Our approach also allows one to better understand Bohr's position and to correct Rovelli's relational quantum mechanics.