(c) Screenshot (Zoom) by Martin Reinhart
radical⇌matter: Diffraction and Reflection
Onto-epistemological lessons from quantum physics by Tanja Traxler
Tanja Traxler is a physicist and science editor of the daily newspaper "Der Standard". She is working on a transdisciplinary
dissertation project between physics and philosophy at the University of Vienna on spatial concepts. Research stays have taken
her to the University of California/Santa Cruz and Twente University, the Netherlands, among others. Together with David Rennert,
she published the biography "Lise Meitner - Pioneer of the Atomic Age".
Since the aspect of "matter" in the radical⇌matter project often references to insights from quantum physics and puts them into a philosphical-metaphorical context, we asked Tanja to expand on her take on the philosophy of quantum physics. In her lecture she referred to the influential works of Donna Hardaway and Karen Barad and their understanding of diffraction and reflection as an alternative view on reality and as a metaphor for new ways to obtain knowledge by emphasising differences. From there she went on to explain to the philosophy / physics of nothingness – a concept that has already be discussed in ancient Greek and which eventually lead to Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the quantum field theory. The very intense presentation turned into a vivid discussion with the students in the end.
Due to the prevailing COVID guidelines, the presentation was held via zoom.
Since the aspect of "matter" in the radical⇌matter project often references to insights from quantum physics and puts them into a philosphical-metaphorical context, we asked Tanja to expand on her take on the philosophy of quantum physics. In her lecture she referred to the influential works of Donna Hardaway and Karen Barad and their understanding of diffraction and reflection as an alternative view on reality and as a metaphor for new ways to obtain knowledge by emphasising differences. From there she went on to explain to the philosophy / physics of nothingness – a concept that has already be discussed in ancient Greek and which eventually lead to Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the quantum field theory. The very intense presentation turned into a vivid discussion with the students in the end.
Due to the prevailing COVID guidelines, the presentation was held via zoom.
radical⇌matter: Diffraction and Reflection
January 18, 2022
Location
Zoom
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Team
- Martin Reinhart (Organizer)