December 3, 2024
Quantum Limits of Knowledge 2021
Wednesday 31st March, 2021
QBism (Quantum Bayesianism or Quantum Bettabilitarianism) has an instrumentalist, and therefore anti-realist, ancestry. Yet, it accommodates a non-conventional form of realism that still has to be assessed. Christopher Fuchs calls it "participatory realism". It is a form of realism for someone who cannot be dissociated from the "reality" she explores. Here, I explore several features and consequences of "participatory realism". I first connect it with the archetypal definition of "anti-realism" by Michael Dummett. I then explore the atypical connection between "reality" and theoretical symbolisms it involves: in "participatory realism", representationalism is discarded, and normativism is advocated instead. I finally compare "participatory realism" with other alternative forms of realism, such as relational realism.