[PhilPhys] Lisbon Philosophy of Physics Seminars: Vera Matarese (25 May on Zoom)

[Andrea Oldofredi]

Dear List Members,

On Wednesday 25 May *Vera Matarese* (University of Bern) will give a talk
titled "*Quantum Fictionalism*" (abstract below).

The series of online seminars is organized in the context of the activities
of the LanCog Research Group <https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/lancog/> at
the Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon, and will focus on the
foundations of quantum and spacetime physics.

The meeting will be online on Zoom (17:00-19:00 CEST). If you have not
registered yet, you can do so here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pe9-CUZwKFA_uS0j-wD7bRQatIO-SdzxBqKlmkM6XOY/edit?usp=drive_web>
.

You can address any question to Andrea Oldofredi (
aoldofredi at letras.ulisboa.pt).

ABSTRACT:

Quantum mechanics is arguably our most successful physical theory, and yet
the debate on its ontology is still far from offering a definite answer. On
the one hand, representationalists claim that quantum states directly
represent quantum beables, on the other hand, anti-representationalists
interpret quantum states only prescriptively or instrumentally.  Much
effort was put into refining and evaluating these two unsatisfactory camps,
rather than offering new alternatives. This paper proposes, articulates,
and defends a fictionalist view which accounts for the nature of quantum
objects, and which combines elements of the representationalist and of the
anti-representationalist camps. The core idea is that quantum objects do
not physically exist, since they exist qua fictional entities, and yet,
they have an explanatory power that underwrites the kind of explanations
normally given by representationalists.


Best regards,

Andrea Oldofredi
----------

Dr. Andrea Oldofredi

Postdoc FCT

Internet Resources:
https://unil.academia.edu/AndreaOldofredi
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrea_Oldofredi

Mailing Address:
University of Lisbon
Centre of Philosophy
Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214, Lisbon
Portugal
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