Why Quantum Physicists Love Schopenhauer
Nov 1, 2026 · 28 min · 16 segments
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Nov 1, 2026 · 28 min · 16 segments
Head to https://squarespace.com/weltgeist to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code WELTGEIST Support us on Patreon, get access to…
There is this idea that recurs throughout Schopenhauer's writings, that pops up again and again in the most unexpected of places.
A concept that runs through his entire philosophy like a recurring motif in music.
The importance of this concept for Schopenhauer's philosophy cannot be overstated.
Yet, something curious happens when we take a moment to reflect on its prominent place in his work.
To us readers in the 21st century, it seems like Schopenhauer is endlessly and tirelessly pointing out the extremely obvious.
What is the Principium Individuationis? Broadly speaking, Schopenhauer is talking about the Latin term used by the scholastics for, you can guess, the principle of individuation.
The question is, how can we differentiate between one object and the next? What is it that separates one thing from another? In other words, how can we conceptualize multiplicity in the world? Keep the word multiplicity in mind, because it's important.
It's simply the state of there being multiple things in the world.
Now, specifically, what does Schopenhauer say about this principle? What is it that makes it so I can conceptualize two different apples lying next to each other on the table, for example? Schopenhauer says it's simply time and space.
Time and space are the things that separate objects in the world.
In other words, the fact that you can look at one tree standing next to another tree is by virtue of the Principium individuationis, which is simply another way of saying because there is such a thing as space and time, you can differentiate between two trees in a field.
The difference between two trees is a matter of space.
The difference between an acorn and an oak tree is a matter of time.
That sounds so astoundingly obvious today that it's almost unbelievable that Schopenhauer would spend so much time on it.
But it's precisely this continuous laboring of the point that should give us pause.
Why insist on this so relentlessly? The answer is, because in the historical context in which Schopenhauer wrote, things weren't quite so obvious.
Because this question of the Principium Individuationis opens up a can of worms that takes us through 2,000 years of philosophy, not only dealing with the nature of individuation, but also with the nature of space, time, human cognition, sense perception, and even how language relates to all of this.
Things are rarely as simple as they seem at first glance.
There is this idea that recurs throughout Schopenhauer's writings, that pops up again and again in the most unexpected of places.
A concept that runs through his entire philosophy like a recurring motif in music.
The importance of this concept for Schopenhauer's philosophy cannot be overstated.
Yet, something curious happens when we take a moment to reflect on its prominent place in his work.
To us readers in the 21st century, it seems like Schopenhauer is endlessly and tirelessly pointing out the extremely obvious.
What is the Principium Individuationis? Broadly speaking, Schopenhauer is talking about the Latin term used by the scholastics for, you can guess, the principle of individuation.
The question is, how can we differentiate between one object and the next? What is it that separates one thing from another? In other words, how can we conceptualize multiplicity in the world? Keep the word multiplicity in mind, because it's important.
It's simply the state of there being multiple things in the world.
Now, specifically, what does Schopenhauer say about this principle? What is it that makes it so I can conceptualize two different apples lying next to each other on the table, for example? Schopenhauer says it's simply time and space.
Time and space are the things that separate objects in the world.
In other words, the fact that you can look at one tree standing next to another tree is by virtue of the Principium individuationis, which is simply another way of saying because there is such a thing as space and time, you can differentiate between two trees in a field.
The difference between two trees is a matter of space.
The difference between an acorn and an oak tree is a matter of time.
That sounds so astoundingly obvious today that it's almost unbelievable that Schopenhauer would spend so much time on it.
But it's precisely this continuous laboring of the point that should give us pause.
Why insist on this so relentlessly? The answer is, because in the historical context in which Schopenhauer wrote, things weren't quite so obvious.
Because this question of the Principium Individuationis opens up a can of worms that takes us through 2,000 years of philosophy, not only dealing with the nature of individuation, but also with the nature of space, time, human cognition, sense perception, and even how language relates to all of this.
Things are rarely as simple as they seem at first glance.
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