Abstract

CALA VITERY, Favio  and  VALERO, Stefan Pohl. Socially determined acausal quantum mechanics: Critical Review. Prax. filos. [online]. 2008, n.27, pp.31-48. ISSN 0120-4688.

In his article entitledWeimar Culture; Causality and Quantum Theory, 1918- 1927: Adaptation by German Physicists to a Hostile Intellectual Environment, Paul Forman intended to depict a history of the old quantum mechanics according to which contemporary cultural influence turned out to be decisive in the introduction, acceptance and assimilation of acausality within the theory. These statements -known as the Forman thesis- are placed in historiographic perspective; i.e. their importance is shown using the framework provided by the characteristic tensions of historiography and philosophy of science. It is argued that the dilemma of determinism is essential in this discussion. Finally, a brief critical review of the Forman thesis is offered emphasizing some of its major weaknesses not previously discussed in the literature.

Keywords : Forman; Quantum Mechanics; Determinism; Acausality; Historiography.

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