Home – Home – Jornals – Philosophy of Sciences 2022 number 1

In its classical formulation, the basic problem of philosophy opposes the material and the ideal. Besides philosophy, the opposition of spirit and matter occurs in many areas, including natural sciences, where it often results in complex problems. One of these is the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. To obtain an effect perceived by the observer, the measured particle should be brought into interaction with the macro-instrument, which leads to a change in the initial parameters of the particle. That is, the observer influences the quantum system, and in an unpredictable probabilistic way. This situation results in epistemological difficulties and raises questions about the cognizability of the world, the violation of causal determinism, etc. For a science that studies the material world and aims at the ideals of objectivity, the perception of the possible influence of the observer’s consciousness on the measurement process is a problematic moment. The analysis shows that attempts to solve the basic problem of philosophy are based on softening the mentioned opposition by introducing an intermediary. It is shown that if we assume the existence of a link between matter and spirit, then the problem of quantum-mechanical measurements can be considered in an unexpected aspect, namely in terms of thermodynamics, which make it possible to provide a natural interpretation of the quantum-mechanical uncertainty arising in the course of measurements.