Laura Ruetsche is an American citizen philosopher focusing on the foundations of quantum physics, feminist philosophy and philosophy of science.
Education and career
Ruetsche graduated with a B.A. in Physics and Philosophy with a minor in Classical Greek from
Carleton College.
She went on to earn her B.Phil. in Philosophy at the University of Oxford, writing her thesis on
Plato Timeaus under the supervision of J. L. Ackrill.
She then obtained her PhD at the University of Pittsburgh,
writing her dissertation, entitled "On the Verge of Collapse: Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics", under the supervision of
John Earman.
She taught philosophy at Middlebury College from 1994 to 1996, before accepting a position at the University of Pittsburgh. Ruetsche held visiting appointments at Cornell University (Spring session, 1999) and at Rutgers University (2000–2001). Following a tenured position at Pittsburgh (1996–2008), she became the Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan in 2008.
Philosophical work
Interpreting Quantum Theories: The Art of the Possible
Ruetsche pursues three distinct tasks in this book.
First, she offers an introduction to the conceptual foundations of the algebraic approaches i.e. generalisations of
of ordinary quantum mechanics, that apply to systems with an infinite number of degrees of freedom (
collectively referred to as
QM-∞ by Ruetsche). Second, she offers a set of exegetical challenges raised by QM-∞. Third, Ruetsche manages to relate the interpretive problem besetting QM-∞ to the more general philosophical disputes concerning scientific realism. Her main contention, serving as a leitmotif for the whole book, is that no single interpretive strategy can fully accommodate the explanatory power of QM-∞, (call this contention
Interpretive Pluralism IP ). Ruetsche isolates the total absence of any finite-dimensional projections from the algebras of linear operators of QM-∞ as presenting a distinctive interpretive problem for QM-∞ (QM-∞ differs from normal quantum theories whose algebras are equipped with linear operators that include such projections). Ruetsche also examines ontological commitments of the QM-∞ given the set algebraic formulation in order to determine whether they include elementary particles in a substantive sense of that phrase. In light of her investigations, Ruetsche ultimately offers a deflated particle ontology by anchoring the concept of a particle in phenomenological framework. She then proceeds to defend IP by exploiting the fact that macroscopically distinct equilibrium phases can co-exist given certain values of parameters of a quantum theory such as temperature.
Feminist epistemology
In her capacity as an epistemologist and a philosopher of science, Ruetsche is particularly concerned with reconciling traditional epistemologies with radical feminist epistemologies that locate gendered dimensions in the former's articulation of justification and norms. To that effect, she developed a virtue-epistemological model for a kind of epistemically valid warrant that agents can obtain "only through having lived types of contingent history'.
In that Ruetsche follows
Sandra Harding by homing in on the gendered status of epistemic agents. She also draws on theories of
Aristotle,
Wilfrid Sellars and
John McDowell in order to broaden the extant conception of rationality in service of traditional epistemologies.
Awards and fellowships
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Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2023
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Lakatos Award, 2013
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Fellow, Stanford Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences, 2006–2007
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Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship (administered by the American Council of Learned Societies), 2002–2003
Selected works
Books
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(2011a). Interpreting Quantum Theories: The Art of the Possible (Oxford University Press).
