The Bohr-Einstein Debate and the Philosophers’ Debate over Realism versus Anti-Realism

Abstract

Although debates surrounding the interpretation of quantum theory are generally thought to have some bearing on the question of realism, the exact nature of the connection has remained controversial. Thus it is common to find the anti-realist arguing that the success of quantum theory has dealt the death blow to realism, while simultaneously some realists herald the quantum revolution as demanding a reconstruction of the conceptual framework of physics in order to attain a fuller understanding of nature’s structure. At the center of this debate on physical reality and the quantum description of nature is the monumental encounter between Bohr and Einstein, certainly by any standard one of the most significant intellectual confrontations in the history of science. Yet the precise relation of this particular debate to the philosopher’s discussion of realism remains not surprisingly as obscure and ill-understood as the relationship between quantum theory and realism generally.