Complementarity, quantum mechanics, and interpretation

pp. 1-7

in: Arkady Plotnitsky, Reading Bohr, Berlin, Springer, 2006

Abstract

The aim of this introduction is to offer a brief outline of Bohr's complementarity as an interpretation of quantum mechanics and of the phenomena in question in it, quantum phenomena. This outline may be seen as primarily philosophical insofar as it aims to delineate the philosophical content of Bohr's key concepts. I shall, however, also discuss their physical content, both in its own right and in order to elucidate their philosophical content, or rather to use their physical and philosophical content to elucidate each other, and thus to understand better the reciprocity between physics and philosophy in the architecture of these concepts. I shall also address the status of complementarity as an interpretation, one among many possible interpretations, of quantum phenomena and quantum mechanics. First, I would like to establish more firmly the key general terms of my discussion here and throughout this study—quantum phenomena, quantum mechanics, and interpretation.