Speaker
Description
In recent debates on the ontology of quantum mechanics, Slavoj Žižek suggests that the Feynman path integral entails a subtle backward in time element, aligning this claim with his broader philosophical framework, which emphasizes symbolic mediation and retroactive causality . Žižek’s interpretation portrays the path integral as fundamentally indifferent to the direction of time, situating time within the domain of symbolic constructs and ontological incompleteness, devoid of immanent operativity. While this interpretation certainly aligns with his critique of metaphysical closure, it reduces time to a relational contingency imposed externally upon quantum systems, rendering the latter detached from the intrinsic operativity of time. I intend to challenge such a reading by advocating a metaphysics of the path integral that reclaims time as a generative, ontological force. Rather than suggesting a reversal or indifference to time, the Feynman path integral, when recast under the auspice of a new metaphysical intuition, reveals the return of time, and not a time reversal, as an immanent operator – a fractalized, recursive principle that undergirds quantum systems. Far from negating the irreversible arrow of time, the path integral reveals it as a field of individuation, not as a passive backdrop but as an asymmetric and creative force central to the genesis of quantum phenomena. Thus, Feynman’s path integral, traditionally interpreted as the summation over all spatial paths between two points, can be reimagined as a summation over internal temporal configurations. Then, each path becomes an expression of the particle’s fractalized internal temporality rather than an external spatial trajectory. That’s why at this point, terms like “path” and “trajectory” persist out of habit, because what the particle, say, an electron, traverses are more aptly described as circuits, diagrams, or even ritornellos , reflecting the necessity for a new imagination, a reimagined, temporally attuned perspective regarding the path integral.
| Presenter's Name | Esterina Celami |
|---|---|
| Presenter's Email Address | esterina.celami@gmail.com |
| Keywords | path integral, surrational, materialism |
| Recording Permission | YES |
| Virtual Audience Permission | YES |
| Event Photography | I understand |
