REL 282 - Entaglement

Course Units: 1

(TBD: Wegter McNelly) Quantum entanglement is one of the most remarkable ideas emerging from the natural sciences in the twentieth century. Identified as a consequence of quantum theory already in the 1930s, it was confirmed as a physical phenomenon only in the 1980s. The broader implications of living in an “entangled” world are only beginning to be felt outside the halls of physics departments. In this course we explore the meaning of quantum entanglement and its potential significance for relational accounts of personhood, life, the cosmos, and God. We begin the course by considering briefly the turn to “relationality” in much contemporary philosophical and religious thought. With this broader intellectual background in place, we devote several weeks to exploring the philosophical structure and meaning quantum theory. We then turn back the clock and examine the concepts of “locality” and “separateness” in so-called “classical” physics (i.e., physics before quantum theory and – we now know – by the world itself. The material up to this point in the course prepares us for the next crucial step: working through and discussing the implications of two now-famous scientific papers: first, the so-called “EPR Paper” written by Albert Einstein and two of his colleagues in 1935 and, second, the so-called “Bell’s Theorem Paper” written by John Bell in 1964 which uncovered an experimental constraint entailed by any theory that respects locality and separability. The significance of Bells’ work lies in the fact that both quantum theory and subsequent experiments violate these constraints. Apparently, and very much contrary to what Einstein believed, we live in a “nonlocal,” “nonseparable” or “entangled” world. Although Bell’s work initially went unnoticed, a group of hippie scientist in Berkeley, California played a central role in drawing attention to its profound implications. During the remainder of the term, we engage contemporary philosophical and religious/theological scholars who seek to put quantum theory and entanglement into conversation with various humanistic and religious perspectives on meaning, ethics and God. Our goal is to think alongside these philosophical and religious/theological writers about what the discovery of quantum entanglement means for the way we think about reality and our place in it. During the final two weeks of the course we watch and critique the move What the Bleep Do We Know? in order to sharpen our critical skills regarding the risk of uncritically incorporating quantum ideas into humanistic discussions. Time is also given to several one-on-one checks-ins with the professor about final paper topics. CC: HUM