2024/09/01 by Antoine Hennion · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Diverse multidisciplinary academic research #Historical Linguistics and Language Studies #Historical and Literary Studies
paper · doi:10.1177/02632764241243257
openalex publication_date 2024/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Bruno Latour’s writings have been discussed at length. My article proposes a ‘version’ of his career that emphasizes the obsessive permanence of his questioning, by focusing on the mission he set himself. Without presuming an a priori coherence, the religious and military connotations of the word ‘mission’ express the strong determination to act and the notion of a calling, and also the indeterminate nature of the object sought as well as the means of achieving it. As William James used to write, the word ‘mission’ underlines the fact that very early on Latour wrote ‘for. . .’, not followed by an object complement: for something remaining undefined. His aim was neither to build a general theory, nor explain a specific field of activity, such as science, religion or politics, but to grasp things differently, in order to change ways of thinking and acting. And he did it.