Information and knowledge in Relational Quantum Mechanics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ef.360861Keywords:
Rovelli, Realism, Objetivity, Relation, Relativism, SystemAbstract
The relational interpretation of quantum mechanics (RQM) has generated intense philosophical debate, particularly regarding its distinctive conception of knowledge. This paper examines how RQM articulates that conception through the notion of “information.” I begin by analyzing Carlo Rovelli’s view of scientific knowledge, followed by a reconstruction of the main argument supporting RQM. I then critically assess how the theory connects information and knowledge to present a realist, naturalist, and relational account of science. I argue that, in its current form, RQM fails to offer a coherent epistemological framework. Moreover, recent attempts by its advocates to resolve these issues expose deep philosophical tensions at the core of the interpretation, indicating the need for substantial theoretical revisions.
Downloads
References
Adlam, E. (2025). What Kind of Relationality does Quantum Mechanics Exhibit? arXiv:2502.06991v1 [quant-ph]
Aikin, S. (2006). Pragmatism, Naturalism, and Phenomenology. Human Studies, 29(3), 317-340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-006-9026-5
Artmann, S. (2008). Biological information. In S. Sarkar & A. Plutynski (Eds.), A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology (pp. 22-39). Blackwell Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696590.ch2
Bitbol, M. (2007). Relations physiques ou relations fonctionnelles? Une lecture non-métaphysique de l’interprétation relationnelle de la mécanique quantique de Rovelli. En M. Bitbol, De l’intérieur du monde. Pour une philosophie et une science des relations (pp. 1-15). Flammarion.
Bitbol, M. (2024). Relations and relativities: A Kantian approach to relational interpretations of quantum theory. La Cultura, Rivista di filosofia e filologia, 3, 409-434. https://doi.org/10.1403/115370
Brukner, E. & Zeilinger, A. (2001). Conceptual inadequacy of the Shannon information in quantum measurements. Physical Review A, 63, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.63.022113
Bub, J. (2005). Quantum Mechanics is About Quantum Information. Foundations of Physics, 35(4), 541-560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-004-2010-x
Candiotto, L. (2017). The reality of relations. Giornale di Metafisica, 2, 537-551.
De Ronde, C. & Fernández Moujan, R. (2018). Epistemological vs. Ontological Relationalism in Quantum Mechanics: Relativism or Realism? In D. Aerts, M.L. Dalla Chiara, C. de Ronde and D. Krause (Eds.), Probing the Meaning and Structure of Quantum Mechanics: Information, Contextuality, Relationalism and Entanglement (pp.277-317). World Scientific.
Di Biagio, A., & Rovelli, C. (2021). Stable Facts, Relative Facts. Foundations of Physics, 51:30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-021-00429-w13
Dieks, D. (2009). Objectivity in Perspective: Relationism in the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Foundation of Physics, 39, 760–775. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-009-9293-x
Dorato, M. (2016). Rovelli’s Relational Quantum Mechanics, Monism and Quantum Becoming. In A. Marmodoro & A. Yates (Eds.), The Metaphysics of Relations (pp. 290–324). Oxford University Press.
Dretske, F. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of Information, MIT Press.
Dretske, F. (1983). Précis of Knowledge and the Flow of Information. The behavioral and brain sciences, 6, 55-90.
Einstein, E., Podolsky, B. & Rosen, N. (1935). Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete? Physical Review, 47, 777-780. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.47.777
Fuchs, C. A. (1962). Objective and subjective aspects of statistics in quantum description. In Körner, S. (Ed.), Observation and interpretation in the philosophy of physics proceedings of the ninth symposium of the Colston Research Society, Dover Publishing, pp. 197-203.
Krzanowski, R. (2020). Does purely physical information have meaning? A comment on Carlo Rovelli's paper: Meaning = information + evolution. arXiv:1611.02420
Ladyman, J. (1998). What is Structural Realism? Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 29(3), 409–424.
Laudisa, F. and Rovelli, C. (2021). Relational Quantum Mechanics. In N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/qm-relational/
Lewis, D., (1983). Extrinsic Properties. Philosophical Studies, 44, 197–200.
Lombardi & López (2015). Información Clásica e información cuántica. Scientiae Studia, 13(1), 143-174. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-31662015000100007
Lombardi, O. (2004). What is Information? Foundations of Science, 9(2), 105–134. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FODA.0000025034.53313.7c
Markiewicz, M. & Żukowski, M. (2024). Relational Quantum Mechanics with Cross-Perspective Links Postulate: An Internally Inconsistent Scheme. arXiv:2312.07056v2 [quant-ph]
Millikan, R., (2006). Styles of Rationality. In S. Hurley & M. Nudds (Eds.), Rational Animals? (pp. 117-126). Oxford University Press
Muciño, R., Okon, E., & Sudarski, D. (2015). Assessing Relational Quantum Mechanics. arXiv:2105.13338
Pienaar, J. (2021). A Quintet of Quandaries: Five No-Go Theorems for Relational Quantum Mechanics. Foundation of Physics 51:97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-021-00500-6
Pienaar, J.L. (2021b). QBism and relational quantum mechanics compared. Foundations of Physics 51:96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-021-00501-5
Riedel, T. (2024). Relational Quantum Mechanics, quantum relativism, and the iteration of relativity. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 104, 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2024.02.007
Robson, C. (2023). Relational Quantum Mechanics and Contextuality. arXiv:2308.08922 [quant-ph] https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-024-00788-0
Rouse, J. (2002). How Scientific Practices Matter: Reclaiming Philosophical Naturalism, Chicago University Press.
Rovelli, C. (1996a). Relational Quantum Mechanics. International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 35(8), 1637-1678. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02302261
Rovelli, C. (2015). Relative Information at the Foundation of Physics. In A. Aguirre, B. Foster, Z. Merali (Eds), It From Bit or Bit From It?. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12946-4_7
Rovelli, C. (2016b). Meaning: information + evolution. arXiv:1611.02420v1[physics.hist-ph]
Rovelli, C. (2016c). A response to the Muciño-Okon-Sudarsky’s Assessment of Relational Quantum Mechanics. arXiv:2106.03205
Rovelli, C. (2018a). ‘Space Is Blue and Birds Fly through It’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 376 (2123): 20170312. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0312
Rovelli, C. (2018b). Physics Needs Philosophy. Philosophy Needs Physics. Foundation of Physics, 48, 481–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-018-0167-y
Rovelli, C. (2019). Neither Presentism nor Eternalism. Foundations of Physics, 49(12), 1325-1335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-019-00312-9
Rovelli, C. (2021). Helgoland. Making sense of the quantum revolution, [trad. Segre, E. and Carnell S.] Riverhead Books.
Rovelli, C. (2024). Princeton seminars on physics and philosophy. arXiv:2407.01989 [physics.hist-ph]
Rovelli, C. (2022). Relational Quantum Mechanics is About Facts, Not States: A Reply to Pienaar and Brukner. Foundations of Physics, 52:62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-022-00579-5
Rovelli, C. & Adlam, E. (2022). Information is Physical: Cross-Perspective Links in Relational Quantum Mechanics. arXiv:2203.13342 [quant-ph]
Schrödinger, E. (1967). What is life, Cambridge University Press.
Shannon, C. E., & Weaver, W. (1949). The mathematical theory of communication, University of Illinois Press.
Van Fraassen, B. (2010). Rovelli’s world. Foundations of Physics, 40, 390-418.
Vila, J. (2015), La paradoja de la racionalidad. Teseo Press.
Vila, J. (2025). Can Darwinism help us understand Quantum Mechanics? Belgrade Philosophical Annual, Special Issue: Darwin and Darwinisms, 38(1). En prensa.
Wood, D. (2010). Everything is relative: Has Rovelli found the way out of the woods? Manuscrito inedito: https://dwolf.eu/uploads/2/7/1/3/27138059/rqm_essay_dwood.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Juan Vila
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term "Work" shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher a nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoCommercia-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions: (a) Attribution: Other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;(b) Noncommercial: Other users (including Publisher) may not use this Work for commercial purposes;
4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal;
5. Authors are permitted, and Estudios de Filosofía promotes, to post online the preprint manuscript of the Work in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work is expected be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Estudios de Filosofía's assigned URL to the Article and its final published version in Estudios de Filosofía.
