Subatomic reality

pp. 321-340

in: Brigitte Falkenburg, Particle metaphysics, Berlin, Springer, 2007

Abstract

Quantum phenomena show that subatomic reality does not have a classical structure. The world is not made up of particles in the sense of the traditional mereological and causal particle concept. Nature is not as "conformable to herself and simple" as Newton thought.¹ In the course of the quantum revolution, the traditional metaphysical assumptions about the constituent parts of matter were refuted at the same time as the light flashes and particle tracks caused by α-rays showed that there must be subatomic particles. The quantum revolution showed that subatomic reality is not as classical physics and traditional metaphysics wanted it to be. Nevertheless, the philosophical debate about the interpretation of quantum theory focused mainly on the following options: either be agnostic about or even deny the existence of subatomic reality; or try to re-establish the metaphysical picture of a reality that comes as close as possible to the lost world of classical physics.