Are all Measurement Outcomes Classical?

In Bohr's view, all measurement outcomes, even in microphysics, are "classical" because they are expressed by means of the concepts of classical physics (or by everyday concepts refined by classical physics). This paper provides a careful analysis of Bohr's arguments in favour of this claim; the one concerning the possibility of using classical concepts so as to express the measurement outcomes, and the one concerning its necessity. Both arguments are shown to fail. Nevertheless, it appears that the concepts which are in fact used for the description of the measurement outcomes in microphysics originate from classical physics and the scales associated with the measured observables are extensions of the ones associated with the classical physical magnitudes. In this respect, the measurement outcomes in microphysics can be considered as "classical" by reference to classical physics only in a narrow sense.

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Source ISSN: 1355-2198
Author Bächtold, Manuel
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 14, 2026, 06:47 (UTC)
Created May 14, 2026, 06:47 (UTC)
Identifier halshs-00792053
Language en
contributor Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (IHPST) ; Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Département d'Etudes Cognitives - ENS-PSL (DEC) ; École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Bächtold, Manuel
date 2008-05-14T00:00:00
harvest_object_id 0299e76d-e18c-4bd1-8ca9-d4ce41328a49
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2024-12-09T00:00:00
set_spec type:ART