•  255
    This paper seeks to extend my recent work on quantum perception (Rosen, 2021) to the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. In the first section, I summarize the earlier work, noting how the conventional approach to observing photons is rooted in an objectivist philosophy that serves as an obstacle to probing the underlying quantum reality. In the summary provided, I bring out the intimate relationship between observer and observed in the quantum world, and the need for a new, proprioceptive mode o…Read more
  •  988
    The Strange Nature of Quantum Perception: To See a Photon, One Must Be a Photon
    Journal of Mind and Behavior 42 (3, 4): 229-270. 2021.
    This paper takes as its point of departure recent research into the possibility that human beings can perceive single photons. In order to appreciate what quantum perception may entail, we first explore several of the leading interpretations of quantum mechanics, then consider an alternative view based on the ontological phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Martin Heidegger. Next, the philosophical analysis is brought into sharper focus by employing a perceptual model, the Necker cube, aug…Read more
  • Synsymmetry
    Scientia 69 (10): 539. 1975.
  •  2378
    In the author’s previous contribution to this journal (Rosen 2015), a phenomenological string theory was proposed based on qualitative topology and hypercomplex numbers. The current paper takes this further by delving into the ancient Chinese origin of phenomenological string theory. First, we discover a connection between the Klein bottle, which is crucial to the theory, and the Ho-t’u, a Chinese number archetype central to Taoist cosmology. The two structures are seen to mirror each other in e…Read more
  •  96
    Wholeness as the Body of Paradox
    Journal of Mind and Behavior 18 (4): 391-423. 1997.
    This essay is written at the crossroads of intuitive holism, as typified in Eastern thought, and the discursive reflectiveness more characteristic of the West. The point of departure is the age-old human need to overcome fragmentation and realize wholeness. Three basic tasks are set forth: to provide some new insight into the underlying obstacle to wholeness, to show what would be necessary for surmounting this blockage, and to take a concrete step in that direction. At the outset, the question …Read more
  •  54
    The Concept of the Infinite and the Crisis in Modern Physics
    Speculations in Science and Technology 6 (4): 413-425. 1983.
    The basic thesis is that the problem of infinity underlies the current dilemma in modern theoretical physics. The traditional and set-theoretic conceptions of infinity are considered. It is demonstrated that standard mathematical analysis is dependent on the complete relativity of the infinite. In examining the domains of modern physics, infinity is found to lose its entirely relative character and, therefore, to be less amenable to classical analysis. Complementary aspects of microworld infinit…Read more
  • A Plea for the Possibility of Visualizing Existence
    Scientia (International Review of Scientific Synthesis) 108 (9-12): 789-802. 1973.
    A dialectical, double-aspect model of general interaction is proposed as a means of visualizing existence. It is constructed from observation of the transformational properties of the Moebius surface, with hyperdimensional extrapolation to the Klein bottle. The interaction of systems is viewed as a process of circumversion (i.e. turning inside-out) whereby systems exchange relations, become mutually negated, then exchange identities. Interaction is discussed in the context of the PCT problem, sy…Read more
  •  7
    Toward Relativization of Psychophysical "Relativity"
    Perceptual and Motor Skills 42 843-850. 1976.
    A paradoxical feature of Weber's law is considered. The law presumably states a principle of psychophysical relativity, yet a pre-relativistic physical measurement model has been traditionally employed. Classical physics, Einsteinian relativity, and a newer interpretation of the relativity concept are discussed. Their relation to psychophysics is examined. The domain wherein Weber's law breaks down is noted as suggestively similar to that in which physicists report relativistic effects. A tentat…Read more
  •  77
    Science, Paradox, and the Moebius Principle: The Evolution of a "Transcultural" Approach to Wholeness
    State University of New York Press; Series in Science, Technology, and Society. 1994.
    This book confronts basic anomalies in the foundations of contemporary science and philosophy. It deals with paradoxes that call into question our conventional way of thinking about space, time, and the nature of human experience
  •  132
    Why Natural Science Needs Phenomenological Philosophy
    Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology 119 257-269. 2015.
    Through an exploration of theoretical physics, this paper suggests the need for regrounding natural science in phenomenological philosophy. To begin, the philosophical roots of the prevailing scientific paradigm are traced to the thinking of Plato, Descartes, and Newton. The crisis in modern science is then investigated, tracking developments in physics, science's premier discipline. Einsteinian special relativity is interpreted as a response to the threat of discontinuity implied by the Michels…Read more
  •  308
    What is Radical Recursion?
    SEED Journal 4 (1): 38-57. 2004.
    Recursion or self-reference is a key feature of contemporary research and writing in semiotics. The paper begins by focusing on the role of recursion in poststructuralism. It is suggested that much of what passes for recursion in this field is in fact not recursive all the way down. After the paradoxical meaning of radical recursion is adumbrated, topology is employed to provide some examples. The properties of the Moebius strip prove helpful in bringing out the dialectical nature of radical rec…Read more
  •  90
    Topologies of the Flesh: A Multidimensional Exploration of the Lifeworld
    Ohio University Press, Series in Continental Thought. 2006.
    The concept of "the flesh" (la chair) derives from the writings of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This was the word he used to name the concrete realm of sentient bodies and life processes that has been eclipsed by the abstractions of science, technology, and modern culture. Topology, to conventional understanding, is the branch of mathematics that concerns itself with the properties of geometric figures that stay the same when the figures are stretched or deformed. Topologies of the Flesh blends contin…Read more
  •  251
    Quantum Gravity and Phenomenological Philosophy
    Foundations of Physics 38 (6): 556-582. 2008.
    The central thesis of this paper is that contemporary theoretical physics is grounded in philosophical presuppositions that make it difficult to effectively address the problems of subject-object interaction and discontinuity inherent to quantum gravity. The core objectivist assumption implicit in relativity theory and quantum mechanics is uncovered and we see that, in string theory, this assumption leads into contradiction. To address this challenge, a new philosophical foundation is proposed b…Read more
  •  108
    This paper brings to light the significance of Merleau-Ponty’s thinking for contemporary physics. The point of departure is his 1956–57 Collège de France lectures on Nature, coupled with his reflections on the crisis in modern physics appearing in THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE. Developments in theoretical physics after his death are then explored and a deepening of the crisis is disclosed. The upshot is that physics’ intractable problems of uncertainty and subject-object interaction can only be …Read more
  •  88
    The Self-Evolving Cosmos: A Phenomenological Approach to Nature's Unity-in-Diversity
    World Scientific Publishing, Series on Knots and Everything. 2008.
    This book addresses two significant and interrelated problems confronting modern theoretical physics: the unification of the forces of nature and the evolution of the universe. In bringing out the inadequacies of the prevailing approach to these questions, the need is demonstrated for more than just a new theory. The meanings of space and time themselves must be radically rethought, which requires a whole new philosophical foundation. To this end, we turn to the phenomenological writings of Mart…Read more
  •  51
    Time and Higher-Order Wholeness: A Response to David Bohm
    In David Ray Griffin (ed.), Physics and the Ultimate Significance of Time, State University of New York Press. pp. 219--230. 1986.
    This paper explores the meaning of time from three points of view: (1) David Bohm's concepts of "vertical implicate order" and "holomovement"; (2) Alfred North Whitehead's idea of the "actual occasion"; and (3) the author's notion of "nondual duality." The author argues that Bohm and Whitehead alike implicitly divide time into dual and nondual aspects and that, in failing to adequately reconcile these, time, in effect, is denied. The alternative offered seeks to thoroughly integrate dual and non…Read more
  •  53
    How Can We Signify Being? Semiotics and Topological Self-Signification
    Cosmos and History 10 (2): 250-277. 2014.
    The premise of this paper is that the goal of signifying Being central to ontological phenomenology has been tacitly subverted by the semiotic structure of conventional phenomenological writing. First it is demonstrated that the three components of the sign—sign-vehicle, object, and interpretant (C. S. Peirce)—bear an external relationship to each other when treated conventionally. This is linked to the abstractness of alphabetic language, which objectifies nature and splits subject and object. …Read more
  •  42
    A Case of Non-Euclidean Visualization
    Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 5 (1): 33-39. 1974.
    The paper examines the philosophical implications of a phenomenon in the psychology of perception: the Mueller-Lyer illusion. In this visual effect, the impression is created that a horizontal line enclosed by acute angles is shorter than a similar line flanked by obtuse angles, though the lines are of equal length when measured with a ruler. While the Mueller-Lyer effect may be merely illusory when one adheres to the metrical laws of perceptual geometry based on Euclid, it is suggested that, fr…Read more
  •  35
    Spinning the Web of Life: Feminism, Ecology, and Christa Wolf
    with Marlene A. Schiwy
    The Trumpeter 7 (1): 16-26. 1990.
  •  73
    The Paradox of Apeiron
    Network Review (86): 3-6. 2004.
    This essay offers a broad historical exploration of the apeiron, the ancient principle of boundlessness and indeterminacy first brought to light by Anaximander in the 6th century BCE. Early Greek philosophy’s struggle with the apeiron and apeiron’s subsequent repression during the Renaissance and Enlightenment are noted. In the nineteenth century, apeiron is resurgent in science, art, and other fields—only to be repressed again with the early twentieth century rise of modernism. But with moderni…Read more
  •  16
    Review of Processes and Boundaries of the Mind (review)
    Semiotica 2005 (154 - 1/4): 401-403. 2005.
    Processes and Boundaries of the Mind is a wide-ranging, free-wheeling investigation that probes the foundations of contemporary thought. In the course of his exploration, Yair Neuman examines a number of fascinating dimensions on the frontiers of the human intellect: semiotics and the origin of language, ontology and epistemology, animal intelligence, phenomenology and hermeneutics, recursion and self-reference, complex systems and chaos theory, and many others. Neuman's diverse reflections come…Read more
  •  133
    This book explores the evolution of space and time from the apeiron — the spaceless, timeless chaos of primordial nature. Here Western culture’s efforts to deny apeiron are examined, and we see the critical need now to lift the repression of the apeiron for the sake of human individuation.
  • The Unity of Changelessness and Change: A Visual Geometry of World and Man
    Main Currents in Modern Thought 31 (4): 115-120. 1975.
    This paper examines the interplay of changelessness and change, being and becoming, from an historical and dialectical standpoint. Topological paradox is employed to elucidate the dynamic interweaving of these ontological opposites. The essay concludes by exploring the relevance of the dialectic to the question of human freedom.
  •  8
    Toward a Representation of the "Irrepresentable"
    In John W. White & Stanley Krippner (eds.), Future Science, Doubleday/anchor. 1977.
  • On Whiteheadian Dualism: A Reply to Professor Griffin
    Journal of Religion and Psychical Research 9 (1): 11-17. 1986.
    In this article, the author defends his claim that a subtle form of metaphysical dualism can be found in Alfred North Whitehead's central notion of the "actual occasion." Rosen contends that phenomenological philosophers such as Martin Heidegger go further than Whitehead in challenging traditional dualism.
  •  100
    A Neo-Intuitive Proposal for Kaluza-Klein Unification
    Foundations of Physics 18 (11): 1093-1139. 1988.
    This paper addresses a central question of contemporary theoretical physics: Can a unified account be provided for the known forces of nature? The issue is brought into focus by considering the recently revived Kaluza-Klein approach to unification, a program entailing dimensional transformation through cosmogony. First it is demonstrated that, in a certain sense, revitalized Kaluza-Klein theory appears to undermine the intuitive foundations of mathematical physics, but that this implicit consequ…Read more
  •  20
    Synsymmetry
    Scientia (International Review of Scientific Synthesis) 110 (5-8): 539-549. 1975.
    The violation of parity in weak interactions demonstrated in 1956 was an event that shook the foundations of physics. Since that time, the status of physical symmetry has been very much in doubt. The problem is presently addressed by first examining the essential relation between symmetry and asymmetry. Then, through the medium of qualitative mathematics, an attempt is made to show how these opposites may be fused in a topological structure expressing a new principle, that of "synsymmetry".