Paavo Pylkkänen | Interactive Dual Aspect Monism: A View Inspired by Bohm’s Interpretation of Quantum Theory

Paavo Pylkkänen 
Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy, University of Skövde, Sweden

Paavo Pylkkänen (University of Helsinki) - PhilPeople

Abstract

Philosophy of mind usually assumes a broadly classical picture of the physical, and then struggles to fit intentionality, mental causation and consciousness into it. This talk asks what changes if we start instead from an ontological interpretation of quantum theory. In Bohm and Hiley’s pilot wave theory, an electron is a particle guided by a wave carrying ‘active information’, which literally in-forms the particle’s energy rather than pushing it mechanically. Recent work argues that this notion resolves key problems of the Bohm theory, making the proposal a live option (Pylkkänen, forthcoming).

The Bohmian electron then serves as a prototype for a whole class of systems in which a subtle informational aspect guides a manifest material process; human beings belong to that class. I suggest this supports an interactive dual aspect monism: one underlying energy with two radically different aspects that can nevertheless influence each other (Pylkkänen 2025). I close on its bearing on intentionality, mental causation, and the hard problem, which Chalmers (1996) himself approached through a double-aspect theory of information.

Pylkkänen, P (2025) Real Consciousness in a Real World: Interactionist Monism. Journal of Consciousness Studies 32(5).
Pylkkänen, P. (forthcoming) Can Active Information Solve Key Problems in the Bohm Theory? Philosophical Magazine.