Heisenberg never systematized a full metaphysics of potentia, but the concept is dense enough that we can extract a coherent ontology from his remarks plus the structure of quantum theory itself. The key is this:
Potentia is not a substance, not an idea, not a possibility in the ordinary sense, and not ignorance. It is a real, structured mode of being with specific, definable properties.
Below I give you the clearest reconstruction available of the properties of potentia—i.e., what it is, what it does, what it can’t be, and how it behaves.
THE PROPERTIES OF POTENTIA
1. Potentia is ontologically real
It is not a metaphor for probability.
It is not a description of ignorance.
It is a feature of the world that exists independent of observation.
You can tell it is real because potentia:
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evolves in time
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interferes with itself
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couples to other systems
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is constrained by symmetries
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has measurable effects
These are not properties of mere concepts; they are properties of physical entities.
So potentia is a mode of existence.
2. Potentia is non-actual but not arbitrary
Potentia is not actual.
But it is also not “anything goes.”
It is strictly constrained.
Its structure is given by:
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the wavefunction
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the Hamiltonian
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the symmetries of the system
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conservation laws
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boundary conditions
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field configuration
This means potentia is highly structured, rule-governed possibility, not free-floating indeterminacy.
It is the world-as-structured-possibility.
3. Potentia is relational rather than intrinsic
Potentia does not belong to substances because quantum systems have no intrinsic properties independent of measurement context.
The potentialities of a system depend on:
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the specific interaction
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the measurement context
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the larger entangled environment
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relational orientation to other fields
This makes potentia a relational quality, not an inner essence.
This is why it resonates strongly with:
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Agamben’s potentiality
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process-relational thought
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Whitehead
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structural realism
4. Potentia is dynamical
It evolves deterministically according to the Schrödinger equation.
This means potentia has:
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temporal becoming
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lawful evolution
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continuous transformation
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causal-internal dynamics
This is crucial: potentia is not static possibility.
It is flowing possibility, shaped and reshaped by dynamical laws.
5. Potentia is causally efficacious prior to actualization
This is one of the strongest claims Heisenberg makes.
Before anything becomes actual, its potentia:
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shapes interference patterns
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determines the distribution of actual events
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constrains how systems interact
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dictates what outcomes can even occur
Potentia has pre-actual causal powers.
Actuality is a late resolution of a process already structured by potentia.
6. Potentia is non-substantial
There is no “stuff” of potentia.
No particles, no little bits.
Potentia is:
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non-material
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non-spatial (in the classical sense)
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non-substantial
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without extension or solidity
It is a pattern, not a thing.
This is where the collapse of matter is most visible.
7. Potentia is mathematically representable but not reducible to mathematics
The wavefunction represents potentia, but potentia is not the wavefunction itself.
The wavefunction is:
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a mathematical encoding
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in Hilbert space
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subject to unitary evolution
Potentia is:
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the ontological reality the mathematical form captures
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the structured field of real possibilities
This is equivalent to saying:
potentia is formal but not conceptual.
8. Potentia contains both potentiality and its shadow: impotentiality
Heisenberg doesn’t say this, but it follows from the structure of quantum amplitudes.
Every potentiality is defined against a background of excluded or suppressed potentialities.
This matches Agamben’s point:
to be able means also to be able not to.
Quantum potentia includes:
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weighted tendencies toward actualization
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weighted tendencies against actualization
The wavefunction carries both.
9. Potentia is holistic
In entanglement, potentia is shared across systems.
The potentiality of one particle depends on:
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the state of another
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at any distance
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with no underlying substance connecting them
This means potentia has a distributed, non-local character.
It is field-like, not object-like.
10. Potentia is the primary mode of existence
For Heisenberg, actuality is derivative.
The sequence is:
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Potentia (real but not actual)
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Actualization (event)
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A new field of potentia (post-measurement state)
This means the universe is mostly potentia, punctuated by events.
Actuality is episodic; potentia is continuous.
A SUMMARY DEFINITION
Heisenberg’s potentia has the following qualities:
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real
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non-actual
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structured
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relational
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dynamical
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causally efficacious
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non-substantial
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mathematically representable
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holistic
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the primary mode of being
It is the world in its mode of becoming, prior to and underlying actual events.
The philosophical upshot
Potentia gives you an ontology that is:
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neither materialist nor idealist
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neither deterministic nor chaotic
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neither substantial nor nihilistic
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neither conceptual nor actual
It is a universe where being is mostly potential, actuality is a flash, and stability is an illusion created by repeated actualizations of underlying, fragile possibility-structures.
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