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113-403: Bohm may refer to: Physics [ edit ] David Bohm , 20th century theoretical physicist who lent his name to several concepts in physics: Aharonov–Bohm effect of electromagnetic potential on a particle Bohm sheath criterion for a Debye sheath plasma layer Bohm diffusion of plasma in a magnetic field Bohm interpretation of

226-427: A Skeptical Inquirer article and also critiqued the views of Jiddu Krishnamurti , with whom Bohm had met in 1959 and had had many subsequent exchanges. Gardner said that Bohm's view of the interconnectedness of mind and matter (on one occasion, Bohm summarized: "Even the electron is informed with a certain level of mind." ) "flirted with panpsychism ". To address societal problems during his later years, Bohm wrote

339-508: A relation between a knower and a known proposition , in the case above between the person Ravi and the proposition "kangaroos hop". It is use-independent since it is not tied to one specific purpose. It is a mental representation that relies on concepts and ideas to depict reality. Because of its theoretical nature, it is often held that only relatively sophisticated creatures, such as humans, possess propositional knowledge. Propositional knowledge contrasts with non-propositional knowledge in

452-412: A series of thought experiments that aimed to show that some justified true beliefs do not amount to knowledge. In one of them, a person is unaware of all the fake barns in their area. By coincidence, they stop in front of the only real barn and form a justified true belief that it is a real barn. Many epistemologists agree that this is not knowledge because the justification is not directly relevant to

565-442: A belief is information that favors or supports it. Epistemologists understand evidence primarily in terms of mental states, for example, as sensory impressions or as other propositions that a person knows. But in a wider sense, it can also include physical objects, like bloodstains examined by forensic analysts or financial records studied by investigative journalists. Evidence is often understood in terms of probability : evidence for

678-634: A belief is justified if it coheres with other beliefs. Foundationalists , by contrast, maintain that the justification of basic beliefs does not depend on other beliefs. Internalism and externalism disagree about whether justification is determined solely by mental states or also by external circumstances. Separate branches of epistemology are dedicated to knowledge found in specific fields, like scientific, mathematical, moral, and religious knowledge. Naturalized epistemology relies on empirical methods and discoveries, whereas formal epistemology uses formal tools from logic . Social epistemology investigates

791-473: A belief is justified if the individual's evidence supports the belief and they hold the belief on the basis of this evidence. Reliabilism is an externalist theory asserting that a reliable connection between belief and truth is required for justification. Some reliabilists explain this in terms of reliable processes. According to this view, a belief is justified if it is produced by a reliable belief-formation process, like perception. A belief-formation process

904-612: A belief makes it more likely that the belief is true. A defeater is evidence against a belief or evidence that undermines another piece of evidence. For instance, witness testimony connecting a suspect to a crime is evidence for their guilt while an alibi is a defeater. Evidentialists analyze justification in terms of evidence by saying that to be justified, a belief needs to rest on adequate evidence. The presence of evidence usually affects doubt and certainty , which are subjective attitudes toward propositions that differ regarding their level of confidence. Doubt involves questioning

1017-592: A belief, known as propositional justification , but also in whether the person holds the belief because or based on this reason, known as doxastic justification . For example, if a person has sufficient reason to believe that a neighborhood is dangerous but forms this belief based on superstition then they have propositional justification but lack doxastic justification. Sources of justification are ways or cognitive capacities through which people acquire justification. Often-discussed sources include perception , introspection , memory , reason , and testimony , but there

1130-565: A causal approach in which the material world could be represented at an infinite number of levels, with stochastic dynamics at every level. From 1951 to 1953, Bohm and David Pines published the articles in which they introduced the random phase approximation and proposed the plasmon . In 1955, Bohm relocated to Israel, where he spent two years working at the Technion , at Haifa . There, he met Sarah Woolfson, whom he married in 1956. In 1957, Bohm and his student Yakir Aharonov published

1243-414: A common view, this means that the person has sufficient reasons for holding this belief because they have information that supports it. Another view states that a belief is justified if it is formed by a reliable belief formation process, such as perception. The terms reasonable , warranted , and supported are closely related to the idea of justification and are sometimes used as synonyms. Justification

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1356-573: A disease helps a doctor cure their patient, and knowledge of when a job interview starts helps a candidate arrive on time. The usefulness of a known fact depends on the circumstances. Knowledge of some facts may have little to no uses, like memorizing random phone numbers from an outdated phone book. Being able to assess the value of knowledge matters in choosing what information to acquire and transmit to others. It affects decisions like which subjects to teach at school and how to allocate funds to research projects. Of particular interest to epistemologists

1469-452: A letter, a newspaper, and a blog. Rationality is closely related to justification and the terms rational belief and justified belief are sometimes used as synonyms. However, rationality has a wider scope that encompasses both a theoretical side, covering beliefs, and a practical side, covering decisions , intentions , and actions . There are different conceptions about what it means for something to be rational. According to one view,

1582-548: A magnetic field could affect a region of space in which the field had been shielded, but its vector potential did not vanish there. That showed for the first time that the magnetic vector potential , hitherto a mathematical convenience, could have real physical (quantum) effects. In 1961, Bohm was made professor of theoretical physics at the University of London 's Birkbeck College , becoming emeritus in 1987. His collected papers are stored there. At Birkbeck College, much of

1695-416: A mental state is rational if it is based on or responsive to good reasons. Another view emphasizes the role of coherence, stating that rationality requires that the different mental states of a person are consistent and support each other. A slightly different approach holds that rationality is about achieving certain goals. Two goals of theoretical rationality are accuracy and comprehensiveness, meaning that

1808-636: A new version of the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) paradox , reformulating the original argument in terms of spin. It was that form of the EPR paradox that was discussed by John Stewart Bell in his famous paper of 1964. In 1957, Bohm relocated to the United Kingdom as a research fellow at the University of Bristol . In 1959, Bohm and Aharonov discovered the Aharonov–Bohm effect , showing how

1921-461: A number of significant contributions to physics, particularly quantum mechanics and relativity theory . As a postgraduate at Berkeley, he developed a theory of plasmas , discovering the electron phenomenon known as Bohm diffusion . His first book, Quantum Theory , published in 1951, was well received by Einstein, among others. But Bohm became dissatisfied with the orthodox interpretation of quantum theory he wrote about in that book. Starting from

2034-410: A person already has, asserting that a person should only change their beliefs if they have a good reason to. One motivation for adopting epistemic conservatism is that the cognitive resources of humans are limited, meaning that it is not feasible to constantly reexamine every belief. Pragmatist epistemology is a form of fallibilism that emphasizes the close relation between knowing and acting. It sees

2147-744: A person has as few false beliefs and as many true beliefs as possible. Epistemic norms are criteria to assess the cognitive quality of beliefs, like their justification and rationality. Epistemologists distinguish between deontic norms, which are prescriptions about what people should believe or which beliefs are correct, and axiological norms, which identify the goals and values of beliefs. Epistemic norms are closely related to intellectual or epistemic virtues , which are character traits like open-mindedness and conscientiousness . Epistemic virtues help individuals form true beliefs and acquire knowledge. They contrast with epistemic vices and act as foundational concepts of virtue epistemology . Evidence for

2260-419: A person knows depends on the subjective criteria or social conventions used to assess epistemic status. The debate between empiricism and rationalism centers on the origins of human knowledge. Empiricism emphasizes that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge. Some empiricists express this view by stating that the mind is a blank slate that only develops ideas about the external world through

2373-507: A posteriori knowledge. A priori knowledge is knowledge of non-empirical facts and does not depend on evidence from sensory experience. It belongs to fields such as mathematics and logic , like knowing that 2 + 2 = 4 {\displaystyle 2+2=4} . The contrast between a posteriori and a priori knowledge plays a central role in the debate between empiricists and rationalists on whether all knowledge depends on sensory experience. A closely related contrast

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2486-445: A proposal for a solution that has become known as " Bohm Dialogue ", in which equal status and "free space" form the most important prerequisites of communication and the appreciation of differing personal beliefs. An essential ingredient in this form of dialogue is that participants "suspend" immediate action or judgment and give themselves and each other the opportunity to become aware of the thought process itself. Bohm suggested that if

2599-507: A quarter of a century, and their recorded dialogues were published in several volumes. Bohm's prolonged involvement with the philosophy of Krishnamurti was regarded somewhat skeptically by some of his scientific peers. An examination in 2017 of the relationship between the two men presents it in a more positive light and shows that Bohm's work in the psychological field was complementary to and compatible with his contributions to theoretical physics. The mature expression of Bohm's views in

2712-412: A true or a false proposition. According to the correspondence theory of truth , to be true means to stand in the right relation to the world by accurately describing what it is like. This means that truth is objective: a belief is true if it corresponds to a fact . The coherence theory of truth says that a belief is true if it belongs to a coherent system of beliefs. A result of this view is that truth

2825-402: Is and what types of knowledge there are. It further investigates the sources of knowledge, like perception , inference , and testimony , to determine how knowledge is created. Another topic is the extent and limits of knowledge, confronting questions about what people can and cannot know. Other central concepts include belief , truth , justification , evidence , and reason . Epistemology

2938-408: Is a closely related process focused not on external physical objects but on internal mental states . For example, seeing a bus at a bus station belongs to perception while feeling tired belongs to introspection. Rationalists understand reason as a source of justification for non-empirical facts. It is often used to explain how people can know about mathematical, logical, and conceptual truths. Reason

3051-409: Is a comparative term, meaning that to know something involves distinguishing it from relevant alternatives. For example, if a person spots a bird in the garden, they may know that it is a sparrow rather than an eagle but they may not know that it is a sparrow rather than an indistinguishable sparrow hologram. Epistemic conservatism is a view about belief revision . It gives preference to the beliefs

3164-521: Is a special epistemic good that, unlike knowledge, is always intrinsically valuable. Wisdom is similar in this regard and is sometimes considered the highest epistemic good. It encompasses a reflective understanding with practical applications. It helps people grasp and evaluate complex situations and lead a good life. Philosophical skepticism questions the human ability to arrive at knowledge. Some skeptics limit their criticism to certain domains of knowledge. For example, religious skeptics say that it

3277-409: Is a system, in the sense that it is an interconnected network of concepts, ideas and assumptions that pass seamlessly between individuals and throughout society. If there is a fault in the functioning of thought, therefore, it must be a systemic fault, which infects the entire network. The thought that is brought to bear to resolve any given problem, therefore, is susceptible to the same flaw that created

3390-439: Is also responsible for inferential knowledge, in which one or several beliefs are used as premises to support another belief. Memory depends on information provided by other sources, which it retains and recalls, like remembering a phone number perceived earlier. Justification by testimony relies on information one person communicates to another person. This can happen by talking to each other but can also occur in other forms, like

3503-401: Is an expression of a world view" and is "thus to be regarded as an art form, resembling poetry in some ways and mathematics in others, rather than as an attempt to say something true about reality as a whole". Bohm was keenly aware of various ideas outside the scientific mainstream. In his book Science, Order and Creativity , Bohm referred to the views of various biologists on the evolution of

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3616-458: Is an oversimplification of much more complex psychological processes. Beliefs play a central role in various epistemological debates, which cover their status as a component of propositional knowledge, the question of whether people have control over and are responsible for their beliefs , and the issue of whether there are degrees of beliefs, called credences . As propositional attitudes, beliefs are true or false depending on whether they affirm

3729-424: Is better because it is more stable. Another suggestion focuses on practical reasoning . It proposes that people put more trust in knowledge than in mere true beliefs when drawing conclusions and deciding what to do. A different response says that knowledge has intrinsic value, meaning that it is good in itself independent of its usefulness. Beliefs are mental states about what is the case, like believing that snow

3842-403: Is between analytic and synthetic truths . A sentence is analytically true if its truth depends only on the meaning of the words it uses. For instance, the sentence "all bachelors are unmarried" is analytically true because the word "bachelor" already includes the meaning "unmarried". A sentence is synthetically true if its truth depends on additional facts. For example, the sentence "snow is white"

3955-439: Is correct. Some philosophers, such as Timothy Williamson , reject the basic assumption underlying the analysis of knowledge by arguing that propositional knowledge is a unique state that cannot be dissected into simpler components. The value of knowledge is the worth it holds by expanding understanding and guiding action. Knowledge can have instrumental value by helping a person achieve their goals. For example, knowledge of

4068-416: Is important for explaining the nature of illusions. Constructivism in epistemology is the theory that how people view the world is not a simple reflection of external reality but an invention or a social construction. This view emphasizes the creative role of interpretation while undermining objectivity since social constructions may differ from society to society. According to contrastivism , knowledge

4181-460: Is impossible to have certain knowledge about the existence of deities or other religious doctrines. Similarly, moral skeptics challenge the existence of moral knowledge and metaphysical skeptics say that humans cannot know ultimate reality. Global skepticism is the widest form of skepticism, asserting that there is no knowledge in any domain. In ancient philosophy , this view was accepted by academic skeptics while Pyrrhonian skeptics recommended

4294-443: Is itself a knowledge claim. Another objection says that the abstract reasoning leading to skepticism is not convincing enough to overrule common sense. Fallibilism is another response to skepticism. Fallibilists agree with skeptics that absolute certainty is impossible. Most fallibilists disagree with skeptics about the existence of knowledge, saying that there is knowledge since it does not require absolute certainty. They emphasize

4407-471: Is no corresponding awareness of the activity of thought. Such an awareness would represent psychological proprioception and would enable the possibility of perceiving and correcting the unintended consequences of the thinking process. In his book On Creativity , quoting Alfred Korzybski , the Polish-American who developed the field of General Semantics , Bohm expressed the view that "metaphysics

4520-469: Is no universal agreement to what extent they all provide valid justification. Perception relies on sensory organs to gain empirical information. There are various forms of perception corresponding to different physical stimuli, such as visual , auditory , haptic , olfactory , and gustatory perception. Perception is not merely the reception of sense impressions but an active process that selects, organizes, and interprets sensory signals . Introspection

4633-497: Is one of the main branches of philosophy besides fields like ethics , logic , and metaphysics . The term is also used in a slightly different sense to refer not to the branch of philosophy but to a particular position within that branch, as in Plato 's epistemology and Immanuel Kant 's epistemology. As a normative field of inquiry, epistemology explores how people should acquire beliefs. This way, it determines which beliefs fulfill

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4746-408: Is relative since it depends on other beliefs. Further theories of truth include pragmatist , semantic , pluralist , and deflationary theories . Truth plays a central role in epistemology as a goal of cognitive processes and a component of propositional knowledge. In epistemology, justification is a property of beliefs that fulfill certain norms about what a person should believe. According to

4859-407: Is relevant to many descriptive and normative disciplines, such as the other branches of philosophy and the sciences, by exploring the principles of how they may arrive at knowledge. The word epistemology comes from the ancient Greek terms ἐπιστήμη (episteme, meaning knowledge or understanding ) and λόγος (logos, meaning study of or reason ), literally, the study of knowledge. The word

4972-412: Is reliable if most of the beliefs it causes are true. A slightly different view focuses on beliefs rather than belief-formation processes, saying that a belief is justified if it is a reliable indicator of the fact it presents. This means that the belief tracks the fact: the person believes it because it is a fact but would not believe it otherwise. Virtue epistemology is another type of externalism and

5085-420: Is sometimes understood as a form of reliabilism. It says that a belief is justified if it manifests intellectual virtues. Intellectual virtues are capacities or traits that perform cognitive functions and help people form true beliefs. Suggested examples include faculties like vision, memory, and introspection. In the epistemology of perception, direct and indirect realists disagree about the connection between

5198-405: Is synthetically true because its truth depends on the color of snow in addition to the meanings of the words snow and white . A priori knowledge is primarily associated with analytic sentences while a posteriori knowledge is primarily associated with synthetic sentences. However, it is controversial whether this is true for all cases. Some philosophers, such as Willard Van Orman Quine , reject

5311-462: Is taken by radical skeptics , who argue that there is no knowledge at all. Epistemologists distinguish between different types of knowledge. Their primary interest is in knowledge of facts, called propositional knowledge . It is a theoretical knowledge that can be expressed in declarative sentences using a that-clause, like "Ravi knows that kangaroos hop". For this reason, it is also called knowledge-that . Epistemologists often understand it as

5424-416: Is the dream argument . It starts from the observation that, while people are dreaming, they are usually unaware of this. This inability to distinguish between dream and regular experience is used to argue that there is no certain knowledge since a person can never be sure that they are not dreaming. Some critics assert that global skepticism is a self-refuting idea because denying the existence of knowledge

5537-414: Is the case if the beliefs are consistent and support each other. According to coherentism, justification is a holistic aspect determined by the whole system of beliefs, which resembles an interconnected web. The view of foundherentism is an intermediary position combining elements of both foundationalism and coherentism. It accepts the distinction between basic and non-basic beliefs while asserting that

5650-405: Is the question of whether knowledge is more valuable than a mere opinion that is true. Knowledge and true opinion often have a similar usefulness since both are accurate representations of reality. For example, if a person wants to go to Larissa , a true opinion about how to get there may help them in the same way as knowledge does. Plato already considered this problem and suggested that knowledge

5763-427: Is wet. According to foundationalism, basic beliefs are the foundation on which all other knowledge is built while non-basic beliefs constitute the superstructure resting on this foundation. Coherentists reject the distinction between basic and non-basic beliefs, saying that the justification of any belief depends on other beliefs. They assert that a belief must be in tune with other beliefs to amount to knowledge. This

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5876-407: Is what distinguishes justified beliefs from superstition and lucky guesses. However, justification does not guarantee truth. For example, if a person has strong but misleading evidence, they may form a justified belief that is false. Epistemologists often identify justification as one component of knowledge. Usually, they are not only interested in whether a person has a sufficient reason to hold

5989-601: Is white or that God exists . In epistemology, they are often understood as subjective attitudes that affirm or deny a proposition , which can be expressed in a declarative sentence . For instance, to believe that snow is white is to affirm the proposition "snow is white". According to this view, beliefs are representations of what the world is like. They are kept in memory and can be retrieved when actively thinking about reality or when deciding how to act. A different view understands beliefs as behavioral patterns or dispositions to act rather than as representational items stored in

6102-530: The California Institute of Technology , for one year. He then transferred to the theoretical physics group directed by Robert Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley Radiation Laboratory, where he obtained his doctorate. Bohm lived in the same neighborhood as some of Oppenheimer's other graduate students ( Giovanni Rossi Lomanitz , Joseph Weinberg , and Max Friedman) and with them became increasingly involved in radical politics. He

6215-688: The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). During World War II , the Manhattan Project mobilized much of Berkeley's physics research in the effort to produce the first atomic bomb . Though Oppenheimer had asked Bohm to work with him at Los Alamos (the top-secret laboratory established in 1942 to design the atom bomb), the project's director, Brigadier General Leslie Groves , would not approve Bohm's security clearance after seeing evidence of his politics and his close friendship with Weinberg, who had been suspected of espionage . During

6328-809: The EPR argument became the major factor motivating John Stewart Bell 's inequality , which rules out local hidden variable theories; the full consequences of Bell's work are still being investigated. After Bohm's arrival in Brazil on 10 October 1951, the US Consul in São Paulo confiscated his passport, informing him he could retrieve it only to return to his country, which reportedly frightened Bohm and significantly lowered his spirits, as he had hoped to travel to Europe. He applied for and received Brazilian citizenship , but by law, had to give up his US citizenship ; he

6441-579: The Maudsley Hospital in South London on 10 May 1991. His condition worsened and it was decided that the only treatment that might help him was electroconvulsive therapy . Bohm's wife consulted psychiatrist David Shainberg, Bohm's longtime friend and collaborator, who agreed that electroconvulsive treatments were probably his only option. Bohm showed improvement from the treatments and was released on 29 August, but his depression returned and

6554-465: The classical limit for quantum phenomena, in terms of a condition that the action function is not much greater than the Planck constant , indicates one such criterion. They used the word " holomovement " for the activity in such orders. In collaboration with Stanford University neuroscientist Karl H. Pribram , Bohm was involved in the early development of the holonomic model of the functioning of

6667-642: The electromagnetic enrichment of uranium for the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. After the war, Bohm became an assistant professor at Princeton University . He also worked closely with Albert Einstein at the nearby Institute for Advanced Study . In May 1949, the House Un-American Activities Committee called upon Bohm to testify because of his previous ties to unionism and suspected communists. Bohm invoked his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify, and he refused to give evidence against his colleagues. In 1950, Bohm

6780-543: The knowledge base of an expert system . Knowledge contrasts with ignorance , which is often simply defined as the absence of knowledge. Knowledge is usually accompanied by ignorance since people rarely have complete knowledge of a field, forcing them to rely on incomplete or uncertain information when making decisions. Even though many forms of ignorance can be mitigated through education and research, there are certain limits to human understanding that are responsible for inevitable ignorance. Some limitations are inherent in

6893-436: The suspension of belief to achieve a state of tranquility . Overall, not many epistemologists have explicitly defended global skepticism. The influence of this position derives mainly from attempts by other philosophers to show that their theory overcomes the challenge of skepticism. For example, René Descartes used methodological doubt to find facts that cannot be doubted. One consideration in favor of global skepticism

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7006-482: The "dialogue groups" were experienced on a sufficiently-wide scale, they could help overcome the isolation and fragmentation that Bohm observed in society. Bohm continued his work in quantum physics after his retirement, in 1987. His final work, the posthumously published The Undivided Universe: An Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Theory (1993), resulted from a decades-long collaboration with Basil Hiley . He also spoke to audiences across Europe and North America on

7119-501: The Institute's president since 1947) "opposed the idea and [...] advised his former student to leave the country". His request to go to the University of Manchester received Einstein's support but was unsuccessful. Bohm then left for Brazil to assume a professorship of physics at the University of São Paulo , at Jayme Tiomno 's invitation and on the recommendation of both Einstein and Oppenheimer. During his early period, Bohm made

7232-468: The United States, Bohm obtained his Ph.D. under J. Robert Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley . Due to his Communist affiliations, he was the subject of a federal government investigation in 1949, prompting him to leave the U.S. He pursued his career in several countries, becoming first a Brazilian and then a British citizen . He publicly distanced himself from Marxism during

7345-419: The belief following it and is supported by the belief preceding it. The disagreement between internalism and externalism is about the sources of justification. Internalists say that justification depends only on factors within the individual. Examples of such factors include perceptual experience, memories, and the possession of other beliefs. This view emphasizes the importance of the cognitive perspective of

7458-430: The belief in the right way. Another theory states that the belief is the product of a reliable belief formation process. Further approaches require that the person would not have the belief if it was false, that the belief is not inferred from a falsehood, that the justification cannot be undermined , or that the belief is infallible. There is no consensus on which of the proposed modifications and reconceptualizations

7571-444: The brain, a model for human cognition that is drastically different from conventionally-accepted ideas. Bohm worked with Pribram on the theory that the brain operates in a manner that is similar to a hologram , in accordance with quantum mathematical principles and the characteristics of wave patterns. In addition to his scientific work, Bohm was deeply interested in exploring the nature of consciousness, with particular attention to

7684-579: The causal theory and funded several researchers around Bohm. His work with Vigier was the beginning of a long-standing cooperation between the two and Louis De Broglie , in particular, on connections to the hydrodynamics model proposed by Madelung . Yet the causal theory met much resistance and skepticism, with many physicists holding the Copenhagen interpretation to be the only viable approach to quantum mechanics. Bohm and Vigier both emphasized causality, not determinism. In this context, Bohm proposed

7797-522: The circumstances under which they observed the cup. Evidentialism is an influential internalist view. It says that justification depends on the possession of evidence . In this context, evidence for a belief is any information in the individual's mind that supports the belief. For example, the perceptual experience of rain is evidence for the belief that it is raining. Evidentialists have suggested various other forms of evidence, including memories, intuitions, and other beliefs. According to evidentialism,

7910-525: The communal aspect of knowledge and historical epistemology examines its historical conditions. Epistemology is closely related to psychology , which describes the beliefs people hold, while epistemology studies the norms governing the evaluation of beliefs. It also intersects with fields such as decision theory , education , and anthropology . Early reflections on the nature, sources, and scope of knowledge are found in ancient Greek , Indian , and Chinese philosophy . The relation between reason and faith

8023-424: The configuration of particles De Broglie–Bohm theory of quantum mechanics, also known as pilot wave theory Other [ edit ] Bohm (surname) Bohm Dialogue , free-flowing group conversation See also [ edit ] Böhme (disambiguation) Böhm Boehm Baum Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

8136-614: The controversy of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956. Bohm was born in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania , to a Hungarian Jewish immigrant father, Samuel Bohm, and a Lithuanian Jewish mother. He was raised mainly by his father, a furniture-store owner and assistant of the local rabbi. Despite being raised in a Jewish family, he became an agnostic in his teenage years. Bohm attended Pennsylvania State College (now Pennsylvania State University), graduating in 1939, and then

8249-782: The conventional approach. He began to develop his own interpretation (the De Broglie–Bohm theory , also called the pilot wave theory), the predictions of which agreed perfectly with the non-deterministic quantum theory. He initially called his approach a hidden variable theory, but he later called it ontological theory , reflecting his view that a stochastic process underlying the phenomena described by his theory might one day be found. Bohm and his colleague Basil Hiley later stated that they had found their own choice of terms of an "interpretation in terms of hidden variables" to be too restrictive, especially since their variables, position, and momentum "are not actually hidden". Bohm's work and

8362-405: The distinction, saying that there are no analytic truths. The analysis of knowledge is the attempt to identify the essential components or conditions of all and only propositional knowledge states. According to the so-called traditional analysis , knowledge has three components: it is a belief that is justified and true. In the second half of the 20th century, this view was put into doubt by

8475-411: The form of knowledge-how and knowledge by acquaintance . Knowledge-how is a practical ability or skill, like knowing how to read or how to prepare lasagna . It is usually tied to a specific goal and not mastered in the abstract without concrete practice. To know something by acquaintance means to be familiar with it as a result of experiental contact. Examples are knowing the city of Perth , knowing

8588-427: The human cognitive faculties themselves, such as the inability to know facts too complex for the human mind to conceive. Others depend on external circumstances when no access to the relevant information exists. Epistemologists disagree on how much people know, for example, whether fallible beliefs about everyday affairs can amount to knowledge or whether absolute certainty is required. The most stringent position

8701-530: The importance of dialogue as a form of sociotherapy, a concept he borrowed from London psychiatrist and practitioner of Group Analysis Patrick de Maré , and he had a series of meetings with the Dalai Lama . He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990. Near the end of his life, Bohm began to experience a recurrence of the depression that he had suffered earlier in life. He was admitted to

8814-417: The individual in the form of their mental states. It is commonly associated with the idea that the relevant factors are accessible, meaning that the individual can become aware of their reasons for holding a justified belief through introspection and reflection. Externalism rejects this view, saying that at least some relevant factors are external to the individual. This means that the cognitive perspective of

8927-405: The individual is less central while other factors, specifically the relation to truth, become more important. For instance, when considering the belief that a cup of coffee stands on the table, externalists are not only interested in the perceptual experience that led to this belief but also consider the quality of the person's eyesight, their ability to differentiate coffee from other beverages, and

9040-405: The justification of non-basic beliefs depends on coherence with other beliefs. Infinitism presents another approach to the structure of knowledge. It agrees with coherentism that there are no basic beliefs while rejecting the view that beliefs can support each other in a circular manner . Instead, it argues that beliefs form infinite justification chains, in which each link of the chain supports

9153-440: The main topic in epistemology, some theorists focus on understanding rather than knowledge. Understanding is a more holistic notion that involves a wider grasp of a subject. To understand something, a person requires awareness of how different things are connected and why they are the way they are. For example, knowledge of isolated facts memorized from a textbook does not amount to understanding. According to one view, understanding

9266-457: The mind possesses inborn ideas which it can access without the help of the senses. Others hold that there is an additional cognitive faculty, sometimes called rational intuition , through which people acquire nonempirical knowledge. Some rationalists limit their discussion to the origin of concepts, saying that the mind relies on inborn categories to understand the world and organize experience. Foundationalists and coherentists disagree about

9379-409: The mind. This view says that to believe that there is mineral water in the fridge is nothing more than a group of dispositions related to mineral water and the fridge. Examples are the dispositions to answer questions about the presence of mineral water affirmatively and to go to the fridge when thirsty. Some theorists deny the existence of beliefs, saying that this concept borrowed from folk psychology

9492-417: The need to keep an open and inquisitive mind since doubt can never be fully excluded, even for well-established knowledge claims like thoroughly tested scientific theories. Epistemic relativism is a related view. It does not question the existence of knowledge in general but rejects the idea that there are universal epistemic standards or absolute principles that apply equally to everyone. This means that what

9605-479: The old Cartesian model of reality—that there are two kinds of substance, the mental and the physical, that somehow interact—was too limited. To complement it, he developed a mathematical and physical theory of "implicate" and "explicate" order . He also believed that the brain, at the cellular level, works according to the mathematics of some quantum effects, and postulated that thought is distributed and non-localised just as quantum entities are. Bohm's main concern

9718-453: The perceiver and the perceived object. Direct realists say that this connection is direct, meaning that there is no difference between the object present in perceptual experience and the physical object causing this experience. According to indirect realism, the connection is indirect since there are mental entities, like ideas or sense data, that mediate between the perceiver and the external world. The contrast between direct and indirect realism

9831-427: The problem it is trying to solve. Thought proceeds as if it is merely reporting objectively, but in fact, it is often coloring and distorting perception in unexpected ways. What is required in order to correct the distortions introduced by thought, according to Bohm, is a form of proprioception , or self-awareness. Neural receptors throughout the body inform us directly of our physical position and movement, but there

9944-566: The psychological field was presented in a seminar conducted in 1990 at the Oak Grove School , founded by Krishnamurti in Ojai, California . It was one of a series of seminars held by Bohm at Oak Grove School, and it was published as Thought as a System . In the seminar, Bohm described the pervasive influence of thought throughout society, including the many erroneous assumptions about the nature of thought and its effects in daily life. In

10057-502: The realization that the WKB approximation of quantum mechanics leads to deterministic equations and convinced that a mere approximation could not turn a probabilistic theory into a deterministic theory, he doubted the inevitability of the conventional approach to quantum mechanics. Bohm's aim was not to set out a deterministic, mechanical viewpoint but to show that it was possible to attribute properties to an underlying reality, in contrast to

10170-458: The role of thought as it relates to attention, motivation, and conflict in the individual and in society. Those concerns were a natural extension of his earlier interest in Marxist ideology and Hegelian philosophy . His views were brought into sharper focus through extensive interactions with the philosopher, speaker, and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti , beginning in 1961. Their collaboration lasted

10283-419: The seminar, Bohm develops several interrelated themes. He points out that thought is the ubiquitous tool that is used to solve every kind of problem: personal, social, scientific, and so on. Yet thought, he maintains, is also inadvertently the source of many of those problems. He recognizes and acknowledges the irony of the situation: it is as if one gets sick by going to the doctor. Bohm maintains that thought

10396-644: The sense data it receives from the sensory organs. According to them, the mind can arrive at various additional insights by comparing impressions, combining them, generalizing to arrive at more abstract ideas, and deducing new conclusions from them. Empiricists say that all these mental operations depend on material from the senses and do not function on their own. Even though rationalists usually accept sense experience as one source of knowledge, they also say that important forms of knowledge come directly from reason without sense experience, like knowledge of mathematical and logical truths. According to some rationalists,

10509-483: The species, including Rupert Sheldrake . He also knew the ideas of Wilhelm Reich . Contrary to many other scientists, Bohm did not exclude the paranormal out of hand. Bohm temporarily even held Uri Geller 's bending of keys and spoons to be possible, prompting warning remarks by his colleague Basil Hiley that it might undermine the scientific credibility of their work in physics. Martin Gardner reported this in

10622-411: The standards or epistemic goals of knowledge and which ones fail, thereby providing an evaluation of beliefs. Descriptive fields of inquiry, like psychology and cognitive sociology , are also interested in beliefs and related cognitive processes. Unlike epistemology, they study the beliefs people have and how people acquire them instead of examining the evaluative norms of these processes. Epistemology

10735-407: The structure of knowledge. Foundationalism distinguishes between basic and non-basic beliefs. A belief is basic if it is justified directly, meaning that its validity does not depend on the support of other beliefs. A belief is non-basic if it is justified by another belief. For example, the belief that it rained last night is a non-basic belief if it is inferred from the observation that the street

10848-421: The taste of tsampa , and knowing Marta Vieira da Silva personally. Another influential distinction is between a posteriori and a priori knowledge. A posteriori knowledge is knowledge of empirical facts based on sensory experience, like seeing that the sun is shining and smelling that a piece of meat has gone bad. Knowledge belonging to the empirical science and knowledge of everyday affairs belongs to

10961-524: The title Bohm . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bohm&oldid=1169298302 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages David Bohm David Joseph Bohm FRS ( / b oʊ m / ; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992)

11074-409: The truth. More specifically, this and similar counterexamples involve some form of epistemic luck, that is, a cognitive success that results from fortuitous circumstances rather than competence. Following these thought experiments , philosophers proposed various alternative definitions of knowledge by modifying or expanding the traditional analysis. According to one view, the known fact has to cause

11187-400: The validity or truth of a proposition. Certainty, by contrast, is a strong affirmative conviction, meaning that the person is free of doubt that the proposition is true. In epistemology, doubt and certainty play central roles in attempts to find a secure foundation of all knowledge and in skeptical projects aiming to establish that no belief is immune to doubt. While propositional knowledge is

11300-507: The war, Bohm remained at Berkeley, where he taught physics and conducted research in plasma , the synchrotron and the synchrocyclotron . He completed his PhD in 1943 by an unusual circumstance. According to biographer F. David Peat , "The scattering calculations (of collisions of protons and deuterons) that he had completed proved useful to the Manhattan Project and were immediately classified. Without security clearance, Bohm

11413-441: The work of Bohm and Basil Hiley expanded on the notion of implicate, explicate, and generative orders proposed by Bohm. In the view of Bohm and Hiley, "things, such as particles, objects, and indeed subjects" exist as "semi-autonomous quasi-local features" of an underlying activity. Such features can be considered to be independent only up to a certain level of approximation in which certain criteria are fulfilled. In that picture,

11526-405: The world. While this core sense is of particular interest to epistemologists, the term also has other meanings. Understood on a social level, knowledge is a characteristic of a group of people that share ideas, understanding, or culture in general. The term can also refer to information stored in documents, such as "knowledge housed in the library" or knowledge stored in computers in the form of

11639-434: Was a central topic in the medieval period . The modern era was characterized by the contrasting perspectives of empiricism and rationalism. Epistemologists in the 20th century examined the components, structure, and value of knowledge while integrating insights from the natural sciences and linguistics . Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge . Also called theory of knowledge , it examines what knowledge

11752-799: Was a significant revival of interest in Bohm's ideas in the late 1950s and the early 1960s; the Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society in Bristol in 1957 was a key turning point toward greater tolerance of his ideas. Epistemology The school of skepticism questions the human ability to attain knowledge while fallibilism says that knowledge is never certain. Empiricists hold that all knowledge comes from sense experience, whereas rationalists believe that some knowledge does not depend on it. Coherentists argue that

11865-483: Was able to reclaim it only decades later, in 1986, after pursuing a lawsuit. At the University of São Paulo , Bohm worked on the causal theory that became the subject of his publications in 1952. Jean-Pierre Vigier traveled to São Paulo , where he worked with Bohm for three months; Ralph Schiller, student of cosmologist Peter Bergmann , was his assistant for two years; he worked with Tiomno and Walther Schützer; and Mario Bunge stayed to work with him for one year. He

11978-757: Was active in communist and communist-backed organizations, including the Young Communist League , the Campus Committee to Fight Conscription, and the Committee for Peace Mobilization . During his time at the Radiation Laboratory, Bohm was in a relationship with Betty Friedan and also helped to organize a local chapter of the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians , a small labor union affiliated to

12091-430: Was an American scientist who has been described as one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th century and who contributed unorthodox ideas to quantum theory , neuropsychology and the philosophy of mind . Among his many contributions to physics is his causal and deterministic interpretation of quantum theory known as De Broglie–Bohm theory . Bohm advanced the view that quantum physics meant that

12204-465: Was arrested for refusing to answer the committee's questions. He was acquitted in May 1951, but Princeton had already suspended him. After his acquittal, Bohm's colleagues sought to have him reinstated at Princeton, but Princeton President Harold W. Dodds decided not to renew Bohm's contract. Although Einstein considered appointing him as his research assistant at the Institute, Oppenheimer (who had served as

12317-628: Was denied access to his own work; not only would he be barred from defending his thesis, he was not even allowed to write his own thesis in the first place!" To satisfy the University, Oppenheimer certified that Bohm had successfully completed the research. Bohm later performed theoretical calculations for the Calutrons at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee . These calculations were used for

12430-492: Was in contact with Brazilian physicists Mário Schenberg , Jean Meyer , Leite Lopes , and had discussions on occasion with visitors to Brazil, including Richard Feynman , Isidor Rabi , Léon Rosenfeld , Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker , Herbert L. Anderson , Donald Kerst , Marcos Moshinsky , Alejandro Medina, and the former assistant to Heisenberg , Guido Beck , who encouraged him in his work and helped him to obtain funding. The Brazilian CNPq explicitly supported his work on

12543-454: Was only coined in the 19th century to label this field and conceive it as a distinct branch of philosophy. Knowledge is an awareness, familiarity, understanding, or skill. Its various forms all involve a cognitive success through which a person establishes epistemic contact with reality. Knowledge is typically understood as an aspect of individuals, generally as a cognitive mental state that helps them understand, interpret, and interact with

12656-522: Was treated with medication. Bohm died after suffering a heart attack in Hendon , London, on 27 October 1992, aged 74. The film Infinite Potential is based on Bohm's life and studies; it adopts the same name as the biography by F. David Peat . In the early 1950s, Bohm's causal quantum theory of hidden variables was mostly negatively received, with a widespread tendency among physicists to systematically ignore both Bohm personally and his ideas. There

12769-452: Was with understanding the nature of reality in general and of consciousness in particular as a coherent whole, which according to Bohm is never static or complete. Bohm warned of the dangers of rampant reason and technology, advocating instead the need for genuine supportive dialogue, which he claimed could bridge and unify conflicting and troublesome divisions in the social world. In this, his epistemology mirrored his ontology . Born in

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