Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg · German theoretical physicist and nobel prize winner (1901–1976) · 1901–1976

Appears in 21 videos · 21 passages, 9 of them in depth.

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Summary

Dominique Pagani refers to Heisenberg in two ways. He first draws on him for his uncertainty relations. In his view, they do not stem from the complexity of the object but from the act of experimentation, which transforms it: shining light on a particle changes its speed and position1 2. He stresses that Heisenberg raises this fact to the status of a law and that it is not a triumph of chance3 4. But from 2014 to 2026 he cites him above all as a recurring example of one of the greatest physicists, a founder of quantum theory, who had sympathies for the Third Reich. He draws several related lessons from this: one can be a great scientist without being a sage, science does not answer the question "what should I do?"5, scientific competence confers no competence in matters of values or of political judgment6, and cultivated people do not escape propaganda. He sums this up as an intelligence of the external world combined with blindness7.

Summary produced automatically from 21 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Who is this?

Werner Karl Heisenberg (; German: ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. Heisenberg published his Umdeutung paper in 1925, a major reinterpretation of old quantum theory. In the subsequent series of papers with Max Born and Pascual Jordan, during the same year, his matrix formulation of quantum mechanics was substantially elaborated. He is known for the uncertainty principle, which he published in 1927. […]

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Search these passages

Cycle 14 · 9 Aug 2025The repression of the subject in bourgeois civil society

49:40One of the greatest physicists, father of the uncertainty relations, but a sympathizer of the Third Reich: an example of intelligence about the external world combined with blindness.

Cycle 13 · 25 Jul 2025Naturalist ideology: answers to questions

48:45One of the greatest physicists, author of the uncertainty relations, who nevertheless had sympathies for the Nazi regime.

Cycle 13 · 2 Sept 2024Clouscard: The metamorphoses of class struggle

1:40:13One of the greatest physicists, with sympathies for the Third Reich: scientific competence gives no competence whatsoever in matters of value.

Cycle 12 · 24 Jun 2024For a “fresh and joyful” apocalypse?

2:23:11Founder of quantum mechanics, sympathizer of the Third Reich: scientific genius does not confer political relevance.

Series · 20 May 2022Who is hiding beneath the surfaces? Aesthetics and politics

56:21Founder of quantum theory and of the uncertainty relations, he had sympathies for the Third Reich.

Series · 20 May 2021Cynicism of the extreme centre or epistemic heroism? The dialectic of the middle

12:41His uncertainty relations show that the activity of knowing modifies the object: illuminating a particle changes its speed and position.

Cycle 2 · 18 Feb 2016#2.3 Between crisis and war: philosophising?

1:57:26Formulates the uncertainty principle yet joins Nazi ideas: one can be a great scholar and ideologically fragile.

Series · 2 Feb 2016Hegel on the Beach 3/5

18:08His uncertainty relations elevate into law the fact that observation modifies the object.

Cycle 1 · 10 Dec 2015#1.5 Between crisis and war: philosophising?

1:49:14The uncertainty relations arise from our act of experimentation, which transforms the object, not from its complexity.

Cycle 15 · 5 May 2026The foundations of the Platonic and Aristotelian distinction

48:03Great physicist of quanta who worked for the Nazi regime: knowledge does not fall under good and evil.

Cycle 13 · 17 Dec 2024The essence of evil: innocence of nature, horror of naturalism!

24:23A physicist who saw no problem with the Nazi regime.

Cycle 11 · 9 Jul 2023Worldliness in Clouscard: the clash of worlds?

2:03:33Great physicist who had sympathies for the Nazi regime: science without freedom is not reason.

Cycle 9.2 · 28 Apr 2021#9.20 From signal to sign: Einstein

1:03:59Mentioned among the founders of quantum physics.

Cycle 9.2 · 17 Mar 2021#9.17 The geopolitical metaphor: Planck, Descartes, Clouscard

33:03Great physicist who had sympathies for the Nazi regime.

Talks · 16 Jan 2021The world before, the world after (part 2)

32:12great physicist, father of quantum theory, sympathizer of the Nazi regime: educated people are not immune to propaganda

Cycle 9.2 · 7 Jan 2021#9.11 How can sciences of history be real?

10:28Cited for quantum theory.

Cycle 9.1 · 8 Oct 2020#1 Benefits and harms of amnesia…

14:46Great quantum physicist who praised the Third Reich: intelligence does not prevent blindness.

Cycle 4 · 12 Feb 2018#4.5 Angélique (by Nerval)

1:12:44The uncertainty relations are a law, not a triumph of chance.

Series · 1 Feb 2016Hegel on the Beach 2/5

14:57Example of a great scholar who is not a sage.

Series · 29 Jan 2016What is to be done? 1/3

35:27One can be a great scholar and a Nazi: science does not answer the question "what must I do?".

Series · 23 Sept 2014#3 The myth of the noble savage in Rousseau

25:20A great scientist who had sympathies for the Nazi regime.

Who is this?

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Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0, excerpt · Portrait: Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Often cited with

Kant371 Hegel836 Marx604 Aristote277 Rousseau591 Platon388 Newton127 Descartes246 Socrate229 Spinoza183 Clouscard480 Nietzsche329