Bruno Latour, Pragmatism and Politics

A Researcher on a Mission

Bibliographic Data

ID2353296
AuthorsAntoine Hennion (0000-0002-9602-3746, Centre de sociologie de l'innovation, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume41
Issue5
Pages3-22
Publication date2024-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheory Culture & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-2764 • E-ISSN: 1460-3616
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/02632764241243257
OpenAlexW4402939368
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited20

Bruno Latour's writings have been discussed at length. My article proposes a 'version' of his career that emphasizes the obsessive permanence of his questioning, by focusing on the mission he set himself. Without presuming an a priori coherence, the religious and military connotations of the word 'mission' express the strong determination to act and the notion of a calling, and also the indeterminate nature of the object sought as well as the means of achieving it. As William James used to write, the word 'mission' underlines the fact that very early on Latour wrote 'for. . .', not followed by an object complement: for something remaining undefined. His aim was neither to build a general theory, nor explain a specific field of activity, such as science, religion or politics, but to grasp things differently, in order to change ways of thinking and acting. And he did it

Aesthetics · Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy · Complement (music · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Linguistics · Object (grammar · Order (exchange · Political science · Politics · Pragmatism · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Computer Science · Diverse multidisciplinary academic research · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · Law · Philosophy