Understanding metaphysical misunderstanding: (non-)individuals and the metaphysical nature of quantum objects

Abstract

Deep scientific realism is scientific realism plus the claim that science requires a metaphysical interpretation. Metaphysics is supposed to fill an intelligibility gap: science by itself, it is argued, does not provide a clear image of reality. The metaphysics needed to deliver the goods comes from a toolbox of concepts furnished by free range metaphysics. Such concepts are developed in connection with a world that is familiar to us, and by being applied to science, they carry this familiarity to the most unfamiliar confines of reality. This article examines the prospects of such a strategy. Focusing on the case of quantum objects’ (non-)individuality, it argues that deep realism fails to deliver the promised intelligibility. Construing quantum entities as non-individuals faces an empty toolbox, ‘non-individuality’ being too closely attached to quantum mechanics itself. Dressing quantum entities as individuals distorts the usual familiarity brought by the concept of individuality, since it now has to conform to the unusual demands of quantum mechanics to the point of being unrecognizable. Instead of enhancing our grasp of quantum reality, the imposition of metaphysical categories risks producing not understanding, but metaphysical misunderstanding. Not applicable.