Fantasies about nature, the subject, and politics. Regarding Bruno Latour 4018-KONW94-CLASS

Modern culture in the West based its key opposition on the relationship between nature and culture. Political philosophy is largely the story of overstepping nature towards creating a state under the rule of law. In such a state, distant from nature, we seek room for natural law. According to Bruno Latour, the very juxtaposition of nature and culture as well as narration on the political overstepping of the laws of nature is wrong. This juxtaposition causes consequences that are destructive in a cognitive and political sense. Accepting the ambiguity of the opposition itself and acknowledging the fictitious nature of the social contract, I would like to ask Latour about his visions of subjectivity and politics in a world where “natural objects” seem socialized while “cultural subjects” appear to be dissocial. Is politics a continual never-ending fantasy about the state of nature, which politics either elevates or condemns or denies just because politics itself uses naturalization as its main tool? Is a political subject in political discourse who openly denies the existence of “raw social facts” (nature) in the name of institutional facts (anti-nature) not seeking a new base in the form of false nature (para-nature)?

Type of course

elective courses

Prerequisites (description)

No detailed initial requirements. During the course students will have to do required reading. Students are assumed to have general knowledge in the humanities and to know something about the main philosophical trends. They are also assumed to have general knowledge on political theories and to know something about classical texts from the philosophy and sociology of politics.

Learning outcomes

It is assumed that students will: (1) understand the complex relationship between nature, non-nature, para-nature, anti-nature; (2) be familiar with the main texts of Bruno Latour; (3) be aware of the French sociologists’ political and scientific motives; (4) be able to look critically at the theoretical ideas proposed by Latour; (5) be able to apply the means and techniques of thinking about society recommended by Latour in their own work.

Assessment criteria

The main assessment criterion is the result of the final exam.

Bibliography

Bruno Latour, Nigdy nie byliśmy nowocześni, tłum. M. Gdula, Warszawa 2011.
Bruno Latour, Polityka natury. Nauki wkraczają do demokracji, tłum. A. Czarnacka, wstęp M. Gdula, Warszawa 2009.
Bruno Latour, Splatając na nowo to, co społeczne. Wprowadzenie do teorii aktora-sieci, tłum. K. Abriszewski, A. Derra, Kraków 2010.
Inne:
Bruno Latour, Steve Woolgar, Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts. Los Angeles: Sage. 1979.
Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1987.
Bruno Latour, The Pasteurization of France. Alan Sheridan and John Law, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1988
Bruno Latour, Aramis, Or, The Love of Technology. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1996.
Bruno Latour, Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1999.
Bruno Latour, War of the Worlds: What about Peace? Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press. 2002.
Bruno Latour, The Making of Law – An Ethnography of the Conseil d’Etat, trans. Marina Brilman et al. Polity Press, Cambridge 2009.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 4018-KONW94-CLASS in USOSweb