A Phenomenological Approach to Quantum Mechanics

Here I consider how we might incorporate our direct experience of the world to better interpret the paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics, including the measurement problem. I begin by noting that the concrete nature of the world, which we encounter in our experience, appears to be absent from the abstract formalism of quantum mechanics. In the paper, I reason that seeking this concrete nature within quantum mechanics points us toward a fundamental stuff of reality that is a holistic, unified ground of potentiality. And borrowing positions associated with Bertrand Russell, I also argue that this fundamental ground is the basis for conscious experience. I proceed to discuss how this framework is different from similar approaches referred to as dual aspect monism. I then consider how this ground of aware potentiality provides the basis for the world’s causal powers and supports our experience of volition, as well as sheds light on the measurement problem in quantum mechanics.