Archives mensuelles : janvier 2014

In an attempt to give some specific content to a debate on the relation between pluralism and realism that tends to go in circles, as one can put all sorts of contents under such generic terms. I try to distinguish … Lire la suite →

Levi Bryant asks at Critical Animal blog post on The Pluralism Wars: « Does ontological pluralism commit one to claiming spirits and demonic possession exist? » This is my answer: 1) The question is too general, asking about an abstraction « ontological pluralism » … Lire la suite →

This is a draft article attempting to give some concrete content to a debate on the relation between pluralism and realism that tends to go in circles, as people can put all sorts of contents under such generic terms. Comments … Lire la suite →

One can talk about the experience of gods, or spirits, or demons, or ghosts, of supernatural entities in general; one can investigate the practice of sorcery, or divination, or witchcraft; one can study the historical movements of magic, or gnosis, … Lire la suite →

Blog très intéressant consacré à l’oeuvre de Mehdi Belhaj Kacem: http://mehdibelhajkacem.over-blog.com/

« We are witnessing today the struggle for intellectual hegemony — for who will occupy the universal place of the “public intellectual” — between postmodern-deconstructionist cultural studies and the cognitivist popularizers of “hard” sciences » (Zizek, “Lacan Between Cultural Studies And Cognitivism”). … Lire la suite →

Latour’s pluralist ontology emphasises the fallibility of our beliefs and the need for objective tests. When he talks about “interpretive keys” characterising each mode of existence, this is not beautiful soul relativism proclaiming “to each his belief”. Applying the wrong … Lire la suite →

It is important to note that the distinctions that Latour makes between the different modes of existence have nothing to do with “belief”, but are based on an empirical and conceptual analysis of the various material networks that sustain them. … Lire la suite →

On this very interesting question one should read the numerous discussions of climate change denialism by Latour, who very intelligently outflanks the deniers, and shows that they have no research to back up their claims, that they are not credible … Lire la suite →

I think that Latour’s AN INQUIRY INTO MODES OF EXISTENCE provides us with a host of categories other than object for describing what exists. In particular, the dynamic aspect of matter is described in Chapter 7 under the category MET … Lire la suite →