Critical Examination of the Conceptual Foundations of Classical Mechanics in the Light of Quantum Physics

TL;DR

This paper critically examines the foundational assumptions of classical mechanics, highlighting their non-obvious nature and discussing the epistemological issues arising from treating the theory as an absolute mirror of nature.

Contribution

It challenges the traditional assumptions of classical mechanics and emphasizes the importance of epistemological perspective over absolute ontological claims.

Findings

Classical assumptions are not as obvious as traditionally believed.

The error lies in epistemological absolutization of classical mechanics.

Recognizing the assumptions' non-obviousness alters their philosophical interpretation.

Abstract

As it is well known, classical mechanics consists of several basic features like determinism, reductionism, completeness of knowledge and mechanicism. In this article the basic assumptions are discussed which underlie those features. It is shown that these basic assumptions - though universally assumed up the beginnings of the XX century - are far from being obvious. Finally it is shown that - to a certain extent - there is nothing wrong in assuming these basic postulates. Rather, the error lies in the epistemological absolutization of the theory, which was considered as a mirroring of Nature.