Against space

This chapter argues against the notion of space. A world that is occupied but not inhabited, that is filled with existing things rather than woven from the strands of their coming-into-being, is a world of space. The chapter shows how the logic of inversion transforms the understanding, first, of place, second, of movement, and third, of knowledge. Biologists say that living organisms inhabit environments, not space, and whatever else they may be, human beings are certainly organisms. Throughout history, whether as hunters and gatherers, farmers or herders of livestock, people have drawn a living from the land, not from space. The German raum , or its cognate rum in the Scandinavian languages, is nowadays the accepted equivalent of the Anglo-American concept of space. In English, ‘space’ and ‘room’ are quite distinct, with room conceived as a highly localised, life-containing compartment within the boundless totality of space.

Computer Science · Space exploration and regulation

• Trash Talk

  Open Access•Francisco Calafate-Faria•The Sociological Review Magazine•2022

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