With the rise of science, we moderns believe, the world changed
irrevocably, separating us forever from our primitive, premodern
ancestors. But if we were to let go of this fond conviction, Bruno
Latour asks, what would the world look like? His book, an
anthropology of science, shows us how much of modernity is actually
a matter of faith. What does it mean to be modern? What difference
does the scientific method make? The difference, Latour explains,
is in our careful distinctions between nature and society, between
human and thing, distinctions that our benighted ancestors, in
their world of alchemy, astrology, and phrenology, never made. But
alongside this purifying practice that defines modernity, there
exists another seemingly contrary one: the construction of systems
that mix politics, science, technology, and nature. The ozone
debate is such a hybrid, in Latour s analysis, as are global
warming, deforestation, even the idea of black holes. As these
hybrids proliferate, the prospect of keeping nature and culture in
their separate mental chambers becomes overwhelming and rather than
try, Latour suggests, we should rethink our distinctions, rethink
the definition and constitution of modernity itself. His book
offers a new explanation of science that finally recognizes the
connections between nature and culture and so, between our culture
and others, past and present. Nothing short of a reworking of our
mental landscape. "We Have Never Been Modern" blurs the boundaries
among science, the humanities, and the social sciences to enhance
understanding on all sides. A summation of the work of one of the
most influential and provocative interpreters of science, it aims
at saving what is good and valuable in modernity and replacing the
rest with a broader, fairer, and finer sense of possibility.
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