Spin as a determinable

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spin as a determinable

AU - Wolff, Johanna Elisabeth

PY - 2015/10

Y1 - 2015/10

N2 - In this paper I aim to answer two questions: (1) Can spin be treated as a determinable? (2) Can a treatment of spin as a determinable be used to understand quantum indeterminacy? In response to the first question I show that the relations among spin number, spin components and spin values cannot be captured by a single determination relation; instead we need to look at spin number and spin value separately. In response to the second question I discuss three ways in which the determinables model might be modified to account for indeterminacy, and argue that none of them is fully successful in helping us to understand quantum indeterminacy.

AB - In this paper I aim to answer two questions: (1) Can spin be treated as a determinable? (2) Can a treatment of spin as a determinable be used to understand quantum indeterminacy? In response to the first question I show that the relations among spin number, spin components and spin values cannot be captured by a single determination relation; instead we need to look at spin number and spin value separately. In response to the second question I discuss three ways in which the determinables model might be modified to account for indeterminacy, and argue that none of them is fully successful in helping us to understand quantum indeterminacy.

KW - Spin

KW - Quantum Mechanics

KW - properties

KW - determinables

KW - determinates

KW - metaphysics of science

KW - quantities

U2 - 10.1007/s11245-015-9319-2

DO - 10.1007/s11245-015-9319-2

M3 - Article

SN - 0167-7411

VL - 34

SP - 379

EP - 386

JO - Topoi-An International Review Of Philosophy

JF - Topoi-An International Review Of Philosophy

IS - 2

ER -