Why IR scholars should care about quantum theory, part II: critics in the PITs

IF 2.2 1区社会学 Q1 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

International Theory Pub Date : 2022-02-14 DOI:10.1017/S1752971921000105

Alexander Wendt

引用次数: 5

Abstract

Abstract Part II responds to some of my critics' substantive concerns about QMASS. However, to sharpen that discussion I first introduce the idea of classical and quantum physical instantiation tests or ‘PITs’. PITs are a thought experiment taking advantage of the causal closure of physics. To encourage critical self-reflection on the usually tacit ontological assumptions of our theories, PITs invite social scientists to translate their mostly qualitative, folk psychological arguments into physical descriptions, meeting classical and quantum constraints respectively, to see which feels more appropriate to the case at hand. With this diagnostic tool in hand, the paper addresses criticisms of QMASS in five areas: (1) the threat of physics reductionism; (2) the potential for epistemic repression stemming from the realist nature of QMASS’ argument; (3) doubts that a quantum approach can support a genuine notion of human freedom; (4) the place of ethics and normativity in social and international life; and (5) implications for graduate methods training and quantum pedagogy more generally.

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为什么红外学者应该关注量子理论，第二部分:坑里的批评家

第二部分回应了一些批评我的人对QMASS的实质性担忧。然而，为了使讨论更加尖锐，我首先引入了经典和量子物理实例化测试(pit)的概念。坑是利用物理学的因果封闭性的思想实验。为了鼓励对我们理论中通常默认的本体论假设进行批判性的自我反思，皮茨邀请社会科学家将他们的大多是定性的、民间的心理学论点转化为物理描述，分别满足经典和量子约束，看看哪一个更适合手头的情况。有了这个诊断工具，本文从五个方面解决了对量子质量的批评:(1)物理还原论的威胁;(2) QMASS论点的现实主义性质可能导致认知压抑;(3)怀疑量子方法能否支持人类自由的真正概念;(4)伦理和规范在社会和国际生活中的地位;(5)对研究生方法培训和量子教育学的启示。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Theory Multiple-

CiteScore

6.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Editorial board International Theory (IT) is a peer reviewed journal which promotes theoretical scholarship about the positive, legal, and normative aspects of world politics respectively. IT is open to theory of absolutely all varieties and from all disciplines, provided it addresses problems of politics, broadly defined and pertains to the international. IT welcomes scholarship that uses evidence from the real world to advance theoretical arguments. However, IT is intended as a forum where scholars can develop theoretical arguments in depth without an expectation of extensive empirical analysis. IT’s over-arching goal is to promote communication and engagement across theoretical and disciplinary traditions. IT puts a premium on contributors’ ability to reach as broad an audience as possible, both in the questions they engage and in their accessibility to other approaches. This might be done by addressing problems that can only be understood by combining multiple disciplinary discourses, like institutional design, or practical ethics; or by addressing phenomena that have broad ramifications, like civilizing processes in world politics, or the evolution of environmental norms. IT is also open to work that remains within one scholarly tradition, although in that case authors must make clear the horizon of their arguments in relation to other theoretical approaches.