University of Twente Student Theses
Quantum (anti)Anthropology : An Synthetic Research on Human Nature.
Efstathiadis, I. (2023) Quantum (anti)Anthropology : An Synthetic Research on Human Nature.
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| Abstract: | This thesis poses the question, namely, how does the holistic ontology of David Bohm’s interpretation of quantum mechanics overcome the anthropocentric remnants found in Karen Barad’s posthumanistic theory of agential realism, thus paving the way for an antihumanistic conceptualization of human nature. In short, this thesis argues that Karen Barad’s agential realism does not overcome anthropocentrism since it tries to disperse into the cosmos qualities such as agency that are made only by humans and for humans. To overcome this dead-end this thesis employs a different interpretation of quantum mechanics, i.e., David Bohm’s “pilot-wave model” and advocates that the holistic ontology embedded in the latter theory renders, via the notion of undivided wholeness, the concept of human beings misleading and unnecessary, and thus, on one hand, overcomes anthropocentrism and in the other hand promotes an antihumanist stance, similar to and yet more radical than Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault’s philosophical theories regarding human beings. In sum, by responding to the above-mentioned research question, three successive tasks are accomplished: first, a respond is provided to the shortcomings of Karen Barad’s theory, second –as a result of the previous– an adequate answer to the long-lasting question of philosophical anthropology –i.e., what is the nature of human beings–, is structured, and, lastly, by employing quantum mechanics in order to answer the above pervasive question, the importance of the quantum mechanics to humanity’s self-determination is highlighted. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 08 philosophy, 10 humanities in general, 33 physics |
| Programme: | Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society MSc (60024) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/96709 |
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