Contextual Emergence, Traveling Forms, and Cosmic Substances: Evaluating the Options for Quantum Hylomorphism

The neo-Aristotelian programme in natural philosophy comprises a family of theoretical frameworks that offer alternatives to quantum fundamentalism , i.e., to the metaphysical thesis that all the fundamental entities and all natural properties are represented explicitly in some model of quantum theory (whether or not supplemented by microphysical hidden variables or microphysically driven collapse mechanisms). I develop a taxonomy of possible Aristotelian interpretations of QM by considering seven choice points for quantum hylomorphism. I consider George Ellis and Barbara Drossel’s Contextual Wave Function Collapse theory, Alexander Pruss’s Traveling Forms model (Pruss 2018, 2023), and William Simpson’s Contextual Bohmian Mechanics, and locate them on this taxonomy. Finally, I take a stand (tentatively) on each of the seven choice points and suggest directions for further research.