The 'hard problem' and the quantum physicists. Part 1: the first generation

C.U.M. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

All four of the most important figures in the early twentieth-century development of quantum physics-Niels Bohr, Erwin Schroedinger, Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli-had strong interests in the traditional mind-brain, or 'hard,' problem. This paper reviews their approach to this problem, showing the influence of Bohr's complementarity thesis, the significance of Schroedinger's small book, 'What is life?,' the updated Platonism of Heisenberg and, perhaps most interesting of all, the interaction of Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli in the latter's search for a unification of mind and matter. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)181-188
Number of pages8
JournalBrain and Cognition
Volume61
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2006

Keywords

  • Aristotle
  • Bohr
  • complementarity
  • Heisenberg
  • Jung
  • Pauli
  • Plato
  • problem of mind
  • quantum theory
  • Schroedinger

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