A Historicized Ontology for the Quantum World: A Philosophical Investigation of the Quantum Histories Interpretation

by Kefu Zhu

Overview

This book discusses ontology in the quantum world and argues that it should be interpreted as historicized ontology. This perspective is advocated by quantum histories interpretation.

 

Inspired by the nomological interpretation from Bohmian mechanics and the corresponding understanding of law of nature and logic, the ontology will be useful to solve the difficulties of confusing ontology and perplexing logical inference. Furthermore, the book proposes that the historicized ontology can be generalized to more complicated structures and fit naturally into temporal correlation. Core philosophical issues such as law of nature, the ontology of event, history, and process, and the metaphysics of history are coherently discussed, revealing the profound meaning behind the formalism of quantum histories. By providing a new framework for a historicized picture of ontology, it will effectively promote the debates in the philosophy of physics and the fundamental research in quantum mechanics.

 

The book will appeal to scholars and students of philosophy of science, metaphysics, and quantum theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781041120704
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/23/2025
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kefu Zhu is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He graduated from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences with a Ph.D. in Philosophy. His research interests include philosophy of physics, philosophy of artificial intelligence, and scientific metaphysics.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction  2 The Formalisms and Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics  3 The histories interpretation of quantum mechanics  4 Ontological and logical issues in histories interpretation of quantum mechanics  5 The Nomological Interpretation of Quantum Wave Function  6 The Histories Formalisms from the Nomological Perspective  7 Historicized Ontology, Scientific Metaphysics and Philosophy of History  8 Conclusion and directions for future research