Abstract
This paper presents, and sketches the significance, of Grete Henry-Hermann’s interpretation of the relationships between transcendental philosophy and quantum physics. Grete Henry-Hermann’s contributions to the philosophy of physics, although poorly known especially outside Germany, appear very important in an historical perspective, as well as of great philosophical interest from a contemporary point of view, especially for a transcendentally-oriented philosopher. The paper insists on some noteworthy points which give Grete Henry-Hermann’s main essay of 1935 its major interest; offers indications of what makes up the central originality of Hermann’s thesis concerning quantum physics; provides some remarks concerning the strengths and weaknesses of Hermann’s interpretation; and presents some of Hermann’s general conclusions concerning the relationship between critical philosophy and quantum physics.
I came to hear about Hermann’s writings during my DEA study (the university year just before a PhD) devoted to the relationship between Kantian philosophy and quantum mechanics. It was Michel Bitbol , then my DEA supervisor, who drew my attention to this writing and encouraged me to work on it. I am happy to have the occasion to thank him warmly here, for this, indeed, but more fundamentally for the inspiration I always found in his way of doing philosophy and for his friendly support. I initiated the translation of Hermann’s most important text into French and edited it with an introduction and a long critical postface in Hermann (1935/1996). The present paper is based on my analyses in that book and is a slightly edited version of the paper published as Soler (2009). The latter is itself derived from a conference speech, delivered 2 March 2001 in Bremen (in German, thanks to the collaboration of Alexander Schell), at the invitation of the Philosophisch-Politische Akademie on the occasion of the Hermann Centenary Celebration. A French version of this lecture has been translated into English by Dr Edmund Jephcott (A & G Translations) at the request of the Society for the Furtherance of Critical Philosophy (SFCP) . This English translation has been published by the SFCP (Soler 2004). Interested readers can acquire a copy of this volume from Keith Martin, SFCP Treasurer, http://sfcp.org.uk/contact/).
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Notes
- 1.
For a more detailed account, see my introduction and postface in Hermann (1935/1996).
- 2.
English translation in Chap. 15. Leonard Nelson edited this journal from 1904 (reviving the enterprise begun by two followers of Fries, Apelt and Schleiden, and which was continued from 1847 to 1849 until it was interrupted during the 1848 Revolution due to political disagreements between the editors). An abridged version of the 1935 essay by Grete Hermann was also published in Die Naturwissenschaften as Hermann (1935c).
- 3.
Hermann’s contributions to the philosophy of science comprise four other articles: the first (Hermann 1935a) is a review of Karl Popper’s The Logic of Scientific Discovery, which was written in 1934 and later became famous (Popper 1934). The second (Hermann 1936) is the text of a short talk given in Copenhagen in June 1936, at the Second International Congress for the Unity of Science, ‘Zum Vortrag Schlicks’. This was a reply to a paper by Moritz Schlick regarding the causal problem, in which Hermann brought to bear the theses of 1935. The third (Hermann 1937b), ‘Die Naturphilosophische Bedeutung des Übergangs von der klassischen zur modernen Physik’ (‘The Philosophical Significance of the Transition from Classical to Modern Physics’), represents Hermann’s contribution to the 9th International Congress of Philosophy, ‘Congrès Descartes’, held in Paris in 1937; in it the conclusions from the essay of 1935 are again summarised. Finally, an article of about ten pages from 1948 entitled ‘Die Kausaliltät in der Physik’ (‘Causality in Physics’, Hermann 1948), provides an extremely clear synthesis of Hermann’s previous works. [To these published works should be added the manuscript from 1933 on ‘Determinismus und Quantenmechanik’ (‘Determinism and Quantum Mechanics’, Hermann 1933), to appear in Herrmann (2017), and translated here as Chap. 14 (eds.).].
- 4.
See, for example, [Schlick 1974, especially Sects. 37–40].
- 5.
- 6.
To begin with, at least; he seems later to have changed his mind under the influence of Bohr.
- 7.
When addressing the question of the relationship between physics and philosophy in his 1963 interview with T.S. Kuhn (von Weizsäcker 1963), von Weizsäcker emphasised that around 1933–1934, the Leipzig group formed a unified front defending the new ideas associated with physics against attacks by philosophers. He then went on to speak spontaneously of Hermann, emphasising above all, in the brief account he gave of her, her two-fold training in mathematics and philosophy. Von Weizsäcker referred to her as an extremely intelligent person and remarked that her great clarity of mind made discussion with her easy. He added that Hermann was probably right in maintaining that Kantian philosophy, when correctly interpreted, was in no way placed into difficulty by modern physics, itself also correctly interpreted. Then he alluded to Hermann’s manuscript dealing with causality in quantum physics.
- 8.
Max Jammer seems to be the first to notice this point: cf. [Jammer 1974, p. 272].
- 9.
Even the habits underlying the theoretical practices of physicists, including judgements of simplicity, could perhaps have been substantially transformed. This is important, since the main argument today against one the most prominent theories of hidden variables—namely the Bohmian interpretation of quantum physics—is its alleged lack of simplicity: it is said to be less simple than the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. I develop this point in relation to the question of the contingency of our history of science in Soler (2006). See also Cushing (1994). [For more on von Neumann’s proof, see this volume, Chap. 8 (eds.).]
- 10.
This proof is discussed at length in the introduction and postface to Hermann (1935/1996).
- 11.
Of course, to conclude from this that the Kantian categories continue to constitute the conditions of possibility of quantum physics, it would also be necessary to have demonstrated that the entire edifice of classical physics actually does rest on such categories. According to Hermann, such a demonstration is yet to be made, and extends beyond the framework of her essay. Kant apparently believed he had provided such a proof, at least with regard to the physics of his time. In Kant (1786, published in English in Kant 1970), he sets out to demonstrate that the twelve categories listed in the Critique of Pure Reason do indeed constitute the necessary conditions of the possibility of physics. When examined, the demonstration appears to posit as the foundation of physics laws that are essentially similar to the fundamental principles of Newtonian physics (conservation of matter, principle of inertia and law of action and reaction). Now, a modern epistemology could hardly have recourse to such a demonstration to prove that the Kantian categories continue to constitute the conditions of the possibility of post-Kantian physics, and this already holds for post-Kantian classical physics (for example, electromagnetism).
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Soler, L. (2016). The Convergence of Transcendental Philosophy and Quantum Physics: Grete Henry-Hermann’s 1935 Pioneering Proposal. In: Crull, E., Bacciagaluppi, G. (eds) Grete Hermann - Between Physics and Philosophy. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0970-3_4
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