Existence and Knowledge

Existence and Knowledge

A Comparative-Ontological Analysis of the Observer’s Role in Quantum Theory and Ṣadrāean Philosophy

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
1 PhD graduate in Philosophy of Physics, Baqir al-Uloom University, Qom, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Center for the Philosophy of Science and Technology, Imam Hossein Comprehensive University, Tehran, Iran.
3 Professor, Department of Applied Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy and Ethics, Baqir al-Uloom University, Qom, Iran.
4 Professor, Department of Philosophy, Mofid University, Qom, Iran.
Abstract
With the advent of quantum theory, the subject-object duality entered the heart of exact sciences, challenging classical realism. Using comparative-conceptual analysis, this research examines the principle of the “indivisible unity of phenomenon and measuring device” in the Copenhagen Interpretation and the “union of the knower and the known” in Transcendent Philosophy (Ḥikmat al-Mutaʿāliyah). Both views reject an absolute separation between observer and system, arriving at a foundational ontological conclusion. However, their unities differ: Copenhagen’s is physical, context-dependent, and based on inherent indeterminacy; while Ṣadrā’s is metaphysical, universal, and grounded in a graded system of existence. Consequently, the observer’s role diverges: in Copenhagen, the observer “determines the conditions for the phenomenon’s actualization”; in Ṣadrāean philosophy, the observer acts as “discloser and existential actualizer.” The paper concludes that the Ṣadrāean ontological framework not only provides a more robust metaphysical foundation for Bohr’s holism but also, by challenging the presupposition of “separability” in classical realism, offers a fundamental response to Einstein’s criticism of the theory’s “incompleteness.”
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