R. Fernandez

In this paper we investigate the history of relationalism and its present use in some interpretations of quantum mechanics. In the first part of this article we will provide a conceptual analysis of the relation between substantivalism, relationalism and relativism in the history of both physics and philosophy. In the second part, we will address some relational interpretations of quantum mechanics, namely, Bohr’s relational approach, the modal interpretation by Kochen, the perspectival modal version by Bene and Dieks and the relational interpretation by Rovelli. We will argue that all these interpretations ground their understanding of relations in epistemological terms. By taking into account the analysis on the first part of our work, we intend to highlight the fact that there is a different possibility for understanding quantum mechanics in relational terms which has not been yet considered within the foundational literature. This possibility is to consider relations in ontological terms. We will argue that such an understanding might be capable of providing a novel approach to the problem of representing what quantum mechanics is really talking about.

One of the most shocking things for specialized historians is the lack of knowledge about the origins of the United States of America and its ideological foundations. The country has often been identified within a liberal capitalist cultural tradition, far from self-criticism and near patriotism, too close to Christian religious fundamentalism and the imperial ambition of a world power whose weight is still very prominent in international politics. Although several Spanish authors, such as Professor Blanco Valdés, have successfully provided their main character traits and others have tried with some paper, we still miss the publication of the most famous authors of American historiography in Spanish.