The Blind Spot Podcast Episode 21: Phenomenology and Quantum Weirdness: A Conversation with Prof. Harald Wiltsche
Feb 25, 2026
Harald A. Wiltsche, Professor of Philosophy at Linköping and visiting scholar at Stanford, works on phenomenology and philosophy of physics. He contrasts analytic and continental styles. He explains phenomenology’s take on lifeworld, mathematical intuition, and how scientific models shape reality. He connects phenomenology to quantum puzzles, discusses QBism, and reframes superposition as an experiential horizon.
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How Cassirer And Husserl Changed Wiltsche's Path
- Harald Wiltsche recounts his path from analytic philosophy to phenomenology, motivated by frustration with formal logic's fit for science.
- He credits reading Ernst Cassirer on relativity and Husserl's ideas for redirecting his focus to phenomenology.
Phenomenology Broadens The Notion Of Experience
- Phenomenology expands empiricism by treating experience broadly, including mathematical and abstract experiences, not just sensory data.
- Harald Wiltsche traced his shift from analytic logic to Husserl after reading Ernst Cassirer on covariance as transcendental condition.
Start From Practice To Reveal Presuppositions
- Phenomenology uses a regressive analysis: start from lived practices and uncover presuppositions necessary for those practices to make sense.
- Wiltsche examines scientists' lab practice and mathematical work to excavate tacit conditions, not to offer immediate metaphysical explanations.
