Latour on Crtitique
“…things have become Things again,…” Why?
An object according to Heidegger is an empty mastery of science and technology and a Thing is a gathering place of a rich set of connections. A coke can is just an object it is a matter of fact, it is a can of soft drink. Whereas a handmade jug is a Thing because it is a meeting place of matters of concern. Who made the jug? Why did they make the jug? How did they make the jug? For whom did they make the jug? Where did they get the material? How did they learn to make the jug? Although, can’t similar questions can be asked of a can of coke?
I believe this is what Latour is getting at. Today every thing (or object) is no longer taken as a simple object that is a matter of fact. The matter of fact seems too simple, too truthful to be the truth. People are searching for deeper meaning in everything, for the truths hidden behind what were once the ultimate truths but now seem to be just the ‘very politicised, polemicised facts’, chosen to take precedence over all the matters of concern that sustain their existence.
What is the realist attitude that Latour celebrates?
The realist attitude that Latour celebrates is an attitude that returns to empiricism. Critique has become extreme in its current form. Every critic is moving further and further away from facts whereas really critics should be moving closer to them. Rather than debunking matters of fact we should be protecting and caring for matters of concern. The many examples of conspiracy theories in the article suggest that he sees these conspiracy theorists as the extremists of theory who are so removed from empiricism and debunking all facts that nothing seems to exist anymore, that there are no truths anymore. He is celebrating a realist attitude that would assemble facts to understand matters of concern rather than debunk them; to multiply and strengthen, rather than subtract and weaken.
Latour's notion of critique celebrated within a realist paradigm returns to empiricism but is informed by the attitude of his fellow compatriots. Without the contradictory nature between science & technology and philosophy, there would be no attitude to return to, no life for critique itself. Out of contradiction sparks new concern rather than mistakes, as suggested by Latour. Critique may have become extreme and Latour's closer attention to the matter at hand is all part of the process of critique - to move in new circles and theoretical paradigms. Critique is about everything and nothing at the same time. This is why the critic can always be right. The critic believes in everything and nothing in order to be right...right? Critique is only useful if the naive counterpart still plays a role but the life of critical theory, argued by Turing, will only continue if all entities cease to be objects simply defined by their inputs and outputs instead becoming things, negotiating and gathering.
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