Quantum Logic and the Unity of Science

Abstract

This paper is an exploratory prolegomenon to the construction of a quantum logic that could shed some light on the thesis of the unity of science. We attempt to take account of the following factors, among others: the difficulty of saying just what a logic is, the startlingly simplequeerness of quantum mechanics from the classical point of view, the consequences of the breakdown of bivalence and individuation in quantum mechanics, and the implications of recent work in quantum computation for quantum logic. We tentatively endorse modal interpretations of quantum mechanics, and suggest that quantum computation points to ways in which quantum logic could be extended beyond the traditional Birkhoff-von Neumann lattice theoretic approach.