An Alleged Tension between Quantum Logic and Applied Classical Mathematics

Abstract

Timothy Williamson has argued that the applicability of classical mathematics in the natural and social sciences raises a problem for the adoption, in non-mathematical domains, of a wide range of non-classical logics, including quantum logics (QL). We first reconstruct the argument and present its restriction to the case of QL. Then we show that there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the application of classical mathematics to quantum phenomena and the use of QL in reasoning about them. Once we identify the premise in Williamson's argument that turns out to be false when restricted to QL, we argue that the same premise breaks down for a wider variety of non-classical logics. In the end, we also suggest that the alleged tension between these non-classical logics and applied classical mathematics betrays a misunderstanding of the nature of mathematical representation in science.Comment: 22 page