The Miracles Argument Meets Quantum Mechanics: Toward a More Literate Philosophy of Physics

Laura Ruetsche

According to the Miracles Argument, we should believe what a highly successful physical theory says about the world. Believing what the theory says, the argument goes, is the best way to make sense of its success. If any physical theory is highly successful, Quantum Mechanics is. But what does Quantum Mechanics say about the world? Wildly different answers --- including ones, like the Many Worlds Interpretation, that are just plain wild --- are available. Canvassing a variety of these answers---a variety of interpretations of quantum mechanics--- I'll argue that it's a mistake to give a theory of physics a single, uniform interpretation meant to apply in all circumstances. It's a mistake because it impedes the capacity of that theory of physics to function as working science. To refrain from the mistake is to recognize that understanding a working piece of physics has more in common with understanding a work of literature or of art (or a person or a culture or . . . ) than one might expect!