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Alexander Wendt, Quantum mind and social science: unifying physical and social ontology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2022

Toni Erskine ,
Stefano Guzzini  and
David A. Welch
Toni Erskine
Affiliation:
Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia
Stefano Guzzini*
Affiliation:
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro,
David A. Welch
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont., Canada
*
*Corresponding author: Stefano Guzzini, E-mail: stguz169@puc-rio.br
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Abstract

Alexander Wendt's Quantum Mind and Social Science hypothesizes that all intentional phenomena, including both psychological and social facts, are macroscopic quantum mechanical processes. Whether right or wrong, the suggestion highlights the fact that the social sciences, including IR, have until very recently never systematically discussed the potential relevance to our work of the quantum revolution a century ago. According to Wendt, that has left social scientists today – positivists and interpretivists alike – operating from an implicit and impoverished 19th century worldview that cannot accommodate important facts about human subjectivity. This symposium features critiques of Wendt's vision from multiple perspectives and a response, for one of the first airings of the classical-quantum debate in an IR context.

Keywords

Concept formationconsciousnessethicsinternational theorymetatheorymind-body problempotentialitypragmatismproblem of meaningquantum theorysocial sciencetheory of truth
Type
Book Symposium: Alexander Wendt, Quantum Mind and Social Science: Unifying Physical and Social Ontology
Information
International Theory , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 115 - 116
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Contents

117–118 Preface

Toni Erskine, Stefano Guzzini and David A. Welch

119–129 Why IR scholars should care about quantum theory, part I: burdens of proof and uncomfortable facts

Alexander Wendt

130–145 Our place in the universe: Alexander Wendt and quantum mechanics

Andrew H. Kydd

146–158 ‘Truth’, ‘justice’ and the American wave… function: comments on Alexander Wendt's Quantum Mind and Social Science

Fred Chernoff

159–168 Otherwise than quantum

Sergei Prozorov

169–182 The strange fate of the morphed ‘rump materialism’: a comment on the vagaries of social science as seen through Alexander Wendt's Quantum Mind and Social Science

Friedrich Kratochwil

183–192 Empire and insurgency: the politics of truth in Alexander Wendt's Quantum Mind and Social Science: Unifying Physical and Social Ontology

Kimberly Hutchings

193–209 Why IR scholars should care about quantum theory, part II: critics in the PITs

Alexander Wendt