The Boundary of Animality

10.1068/d359t ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 787-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Christian Risan
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Computer Interactions ◽  
Generalized Symmetry ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anthropological Fieldwork ◽  
The One

In this paper I explore some limits of the generalized symmetry of actor-network theory. The paper is based on a study on cows, farming technology, and farming science, and is empirically based on an anthropological fieldwork in modern, computerized cowsheds. By exploring differences in interactions between human beings and cows, on the one hand, and between human beings and computers, on the other, I argue that the partly common natural history of human beings and cows, and the lack of such a history in human–computer interactions, makes it impossible to be agnostic about where to find subjectivity in such a place as a cowshed. Animal bodies (including human beings) demand certain kinds of interactions, and thus produce certain distributions of subjectivities. The boundary of animality is not a purely ‘cultural’ distinction, and cannot be deconstructed as such.

Emerson's Atom and the Matter of Suffering

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-47
Author(s):  
Mark Noble
Keyword(s):  
Field Theory ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Classical Field Theory ◽  
Classical Field ◽  
The Other ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Solid Bodies ◽  
Lines Of Force

This essay argues that Ralph Waldo Emerson's interest in the cutting-edge science of his generation helps to shape his understanding of persons as fluid expressions of power rather than solid bodies. In his 1872 "Natural History of Intellect," Emerson correlates the constitution of the individual mind with the tenets of Michael Faraday's classical field theory. For Faraday, experimenting with electromagnetism reveals that the atom is a node or point on a network, and that all matter is really the arrangement of energetic lines of force. This atomic model offers Emerson a technology for envisioning a materialized subjectivity that both unravels personal identity and grants access to impersonal power. On the one hand, adopting Faraday's field theory resonates with many of the affirmative philosophical and ethical claims central to Emerson's early essays. On the other hand, however, distributing the properties of Faraday's atoms onto the properties of the person also entails moments in which materialized subjects encounter their own partiality, limitation, and suffering. I suggest that Emerson represents these aspects of experience in terms that are deliberately discrepant from his conception of universal power. He presumes that if every experience boils down to the same lines of force, then the particular can be trivialized with respect to the general. As a consequence, Emerson must insulate his philosophical assertions from contamination by our most poignant experiences of limitation. The essay concludes by distinguishing Emersonian "Necessity" from Friedrich Nietzsche's similar conception of amor fati, which routes the affirmation of fate directly through suffering.

Spiders, Ants, and Bees

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-51
Author(s):  
Doina-Cristina Rusu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Francis Bacon ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Natural Histories

This paper argues that the methodology Francis Bacon used in his natural histories abides by the theoretical commitments presented in his methodological writings. On the one hand, Bacon advocated a middle way between idle speculation and mere gathering of facts. On the other hand, he took a strong stance against the theorisation based on very few facts. Using two of his sources whom Bacon takes to be the reflection of these two extremes—Giambattista della Porta as an instance of idle speculations, and Hugh Platt as an instance of gathering facts without extracting knowledge—I show how Bacon chose the middle way, which consists of gathering facts and gradually extracting theory out of them. In addition, it will become clear how Bacon used the expertise of contemporary practitioners to criticise fantastical theories and purge natural history of misconceived notions and false speculations.

Applications of Actor-Network Theory in Media Studies

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Markus Spöhrer
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
International Research ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
The One

The chapter offers an international research overview of the possibilities and problems of applying Actor-Network Theory in Media Studies and media related research. On the one hand the chapter provides a summary of the central aspects and terminologies of Bruno Latour's, Michel Callon's and John Law's corpus of texts. On the other hand, it summarizes both theoretical and methodological implications of the combination of Actor-Network Theory and strands of Media Studies research such as discourse analysis, Production Studies and media theory.

Analogy, Natural History and the Philosophy of Nature

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Nassar
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The Other ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
Methodological Challenge ◽  
Philosophy Of Nature ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Tension ◽  
Critical Reviews

In 1785 Kant published a series of critical reviews of Johann Gottfried Herder’s Ideas for a Philosophy of the History of Humanity (1784–1785), in which he not only challenges Herder’s conception of nature but also, and more importantly, his methodology. Kant’s complaint is that by relying on analogy, Herder draws deeply mistaken conclusions that overlook fundamental differences between human and nonhuman beings. But was Kant’s critique of Herder entirely fair? And how does it compare to Kant’s own use of analogy? My claim is that Herder’s use of analogy posed a fundamental methodological challenge to Kant, a challenge he sought to meet in the years following the reviews. In so doing, however, Kant found himself in the untenable situation of, on the one hand, granting analogy greater significance, and, on the other, severely restricting its use. By tracing the shifts in Kant’s thought through the lens of analogy, I aim to show that Kant’s transformed understanding of analogy reveals a fundamental tension between his a priori “metaphysics of nature” and empirical science, a tension that fundamentally shaped the philosophies of nature after Kant.

Applying Actor-Network Theory in Media Studies

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Markus Spöhrer
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
International Research ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
The One

The chapter offers an international research overview of the possibilities and problems of applying actor-network theory in media studies and media-related research. On the one hand, the chapter provides a summary of the central aspects and terminologies of Bruno Latour's, Michel Callon's and John Law's corpus of texts. On the other hand, it summarizes both theoretical and methodological implications of the combination of actor-network theory and strands of media studies research such as discourse analysis, production studies, and media theory.

scholarly journals Liquid Biopsy for Solid Ophthalmic Malignancies: An Updated Review and Perspectives

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3284
Author(s):  
Arnaud Martel ◽  
Stephanie Baillif ◽  
Sacha Nahon-esteve ◽  
Lauris Gastaud ◽  
Corine Bertolotto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Anterior Chamber ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Liquid Biopsy ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
The Other ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diagnosis Of Cancer ◽  
The One

Tissue biopsy is considered the gold standard when establishing a diagnosis of cancer. However, tissue biopsies of intraocular ophthalmic malignancies are hard to collect and are thought to be associated with a non-negligible risk of extraocular dissemination. Recently, the liquid biopsy (LB) has emerged as a viable, non-invasive, repeatable, and promising way of obtaining a diagnosis, prognosis, and theragnosis of patients with solid tumors. LB refers to blood, as well as any human liquid. The natural history of uveal melanoma (UM) and retinoblastoma (RB) are radically opposed. On the one hand, UM is known to disseminate through the bloodstream, and is, therefore, more accessible to systemic venous liquid biopsy. On the other hand, RB rarely disseminates hematogenous, and is, therefore, more accessible to local liquid biopsy by performing an anterior chamber puncture. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge concerning LB in UM, RB, conjunctival tumors, and choroidal metastases. We also develop the current limitations encountered, as well as the perspectives.

scholarly journals Cities, Nature, Justice: a zoologist's perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lunney
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
The Other ◽  
City Life ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
The City ◽  
Rapid Conversion

Cities and nature may seem mutually exclusive, but the animal inhabitants, both native and introduced, from pets to pests, are a major component of city life. Using Sydney as an example, this paper takes a critical look at cities and nature, more narrowly zoology, with a long-term view, i.e. one with intergenerational equity in mind. In the rapid conversion of bush to farmland, then suburbs and industrial areas, flora and fauna have not been given a strong voice. We need a new ethic for this new urban ecosystem, one which encompasses dealing with exotic species, pests and vermin on the one hand, and relic native animal populations on the other. Plans for sustainability in environment, economics and society need to recognise that these are interrelated subjects, not separate entities. I argue that knowing the natural history of Sydney is integral to understanding the city, its history, and its sustainability.

scholarly journals III. The natural history of cochineal; being an account of a book entituled, Histoire naturelle de la cochinelle justifiée par des documens authentiques Amsterdam, 1729

1730 ◽  
Vol 36 (413) ◽  
pp. 264-268
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Small Animal ◽  
The Other ◽  
Histoire Naturelle ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

A dispute arising betwixt the author ( Melchior de la Ruuscher ) and a friend, concerning the substance of cochineal, the one maintaining it to be a small animal, the other the fruit, or grain of a plant, the author took the pains to procure from Antiquera in New Spain , the place where there is the greatest traffick for it, the attestations upon oath of eight persons who have been immediately employed in propagating and managing it for many years; from whence the whole natural history of this drug is collected.

scholarly journals Å gjøre museumsgjenstander. Åtte øgler og en maursluker i det sene 1700-tallets El Real Gabinete de Historia Natural

1970 ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Lise Camilla Ruud
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
Museum Objects ◽  
Late Eighteenth ◽  
Introductory Part ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historia Natural

The article analyses the field of eighteenth-century Hispanic history of science, little known to northern scholars, with the use of concepts from actor- network theory, combining these with a traditional Scandinavian ethnological close-up study of objects. The introductory part discusses the production of flasks as a way of standardizing natural objects at the late eighteenth-century Royal Cabinet of Natural History. The following section analyses how eight lizards were integrated into a variety of practices on their way to the Madrid museum. Thereafter, five different images of an anteater are discussed as forming part of the museum’s outreaching practices of display. The article demonstrates a fruitful approach to the histories of museums and their objects: Objects are seen as “enacted realities” which incorporate in radically different practices, and many versions of them exist simultaneously. Museum objects stretch out and connect with ideas and actors, objects travel and are continuously being done, inside and outside the museum building.

scholarly journals The Politics of Explanation and Strategy of Description of Bruno Latour: How to Write Infra-reflexive Texts

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandr Shirokov
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recording Device ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Meta Level ◽  
Specific Description ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Textual Form

The article is an attempt to interpret Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a recording device or, in other words, as a way of translating the world into a textual form. In directly posing the question of what ANT is and what it means to be an actor-network theorist, the author shows that this, first of all, means writing specific texts. If we accept such a version of what ANT is, then the question is how Latour proposes to write texts. His strategy of description is based on a certain politics of explanation. Like any other politics, the politics of explanation is based on certain principles or credo; in this case, these principles are related to the influence of the semiotics, ethnomethodology, and results of what Latour called the anthropology of the modern. This text, on the one hand, analyzes how Latour selectively borrows elements of semiotics and ethnomethodology in developing his policy of explanation. On the other hand, the author shows how this politics of explanation is implemented in practice in a specific description strategy. The author concludes that Latour’s politics of explanation and the subsequent description strategy presupposes an average path between two extremes. The first extreme is the output to the meta level, and the second is the use of only the explanations of the actors themselves. This middle path consists of the development of certain principles of description that would not lead either to the replacement of the language of actors by the language of a sociologist, or to a simple repetition of the language of actors. The ANT infra-language does not say anything meaningful about the world, but, in a certain way, organizes a description of the world as it is as an empty template which must be re-applied each time. It is for this reason that it is possible for historical, ethnographic, and mixed ANT-research.

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