Van Fraassen and Ruetsche on preparation and measurement

Philosophy of Science 66 (3):91 (1999)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Ruetsche (1996) has argued that van Fraassen's (1991) Copenhagen Variant of the Modal Interpretation (CVMI) gives unsatisfactory accounts of measurement and of state preparation. I defend the CVMI against Ruetsche's first argument by using decoherence to show that the CVMI does not need to account for the measurement scenario which Ruetsche poses. I then show, however, that there is a problem concerning preparation, and the problem is more serious than the one Ruetsche focuses on. The CVMI makes no substantive predictions for the everyday processes we take to be measurements.

Author's Profile

Bradley Monton
Wuhan University

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
299 (#52,168)

6 months
81 (#49,230)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?