Complementarity, causality, and explanation

Debate about cause and effect stretches from antiquity to the present day. Before Niels Bohr's work, thinkers assumed that identifying a cause also explained the effect. Quantum theory's success called that assumption into question, and Bohr answered with a principle of complementarity that reframes both causality and explanation.

John Losee traces the philosophical groundwork of these debates, beginning with the views of Aristotle, Descartes, Newton, Hume, Kant, and Mill. He examines how nineteenth-century physics and chemistry were shaped by a leading theory of causality, and how particular advances in physics set the stage for quantum theory. A detailed section considers the difficulties that quantum theory raised for the claim that causality implies explanation.

The book then assesses Bohr's attempts to extend complementarity beyond physics into biology and psychology. It also asks whether complementarity could serve as a principle for interpreting Christian theology.

The volume includes a full index. It is aimed at advanced undergraduates, graduate students, professional philosophers, and anyone studying causation and explanation.