On the Partial Existence of Existing and Non-existing Objects

Bruno Latour (1)

1 médialab - médialab (Sciences Po)

The paper tries to find an intermediary zone between metaphysics - especially that of Whitehead- and sociology or social history of science. It offers a sketchy but robust vocabulary to define the spatio-temporal envelop of phenomena, without having to take decisions on their existence or non-existence. The notion of network is then given a more precise metaphysics by pursuing how a phenomenon is then extended, through standardization and reformatting, into the classical status of existing or non-existing objetcs.

Domaines: Philosophie

Bruno Latour. On the Partial Existence of Existing and Non-existing Objects. Lorraine Daston. Biographies of scientific objects, University of Chicago Press, pp.247 - 269, 2000, 9780226136707. ⟨hal-02057245⟩