Inhabiting the world
Routledge eBooks October 29, 2026 DOI: 10.4324/9781042025640-14 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the natural sciences, especially quantum physics, ultimately challenge naturalism rather than support it, and that quantum physics reveals its full significance only under a radical epoché emulating Jan Patočka's gesture and enacted through advanced contemplative practices. Proposes that quantum objectification extracts intersubjectively invariant rules for researchers' anticipatory orientation within their milieu, reflecting an "immersive" rather than "projective" mode of thought in Bruce Bégout's sense. |
Abstract
Surprising as it may seem, when pushed to their ultimate accomplishments, the natural sciences, rather than supporting naturalism, ultimately challenge it. The problem is not only that naturalism falls into a performative contradiction when it attempts to ground science in purely natural terms; it is that cutting-edge natural sciences, such as quantum physics, reveal their full significance only under a radical form of epoché , one that emulates the deepest gesture advocated by Jan Patočka and enacted through advanced contemplative practices. Indeed, it is only in this way that the profound transformation of the activity of objectification in quantum physics can be understood. Quantum objectification no longer involves positing a spatially separated, autonomous object, but consists instead in extracting optimally intersubjectively invariant rules for the anticipatory orientation of living, experiencing researchers within the milieu to which they belong. It thus stems from an “immersive”—or more simply “mersive”—way of thinking, rather than a projective—or simply “jective”—one, in the sense articulated by Bruce Bégout.