Bruno Latour

Bruno Latour
Latour in 2017
Born(1947-06-22)22 June 1947
Beaune, Côte-d'Or, France
Died9 October 2022(2022-10-09) (aged 75)
Paris, France
EducationUniversity of Tours (PhD, 1975)
Notable workLaboratory Life (1979)
Science in Action (1987)
We Have Never Been Modern (1991)
Politics of Nature (1999)
AwardsHolberg Prize (2013)
Kyoto Prize (2021)
Era21st-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolContinental philosophy
Social constructionism
"Constructivism (disambiguation)"[vague][1]
Actor–network theory
InstitutionsORSTOM
Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation
Mines ParisTech
Sciences Po
London School of Economics
University of Amsterdam
Notable ideas
Actor–network theory, actant, blackboxing, graphism thesis, mapping controversies, nonmodernism
Websitehttp://www.bruno-latour.fr
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Bruno Latour (French: [latuʁ]; 22 June 1947 – 9 October 2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist.[5] He was especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS).[6] After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris (Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation) from 1982 to 2006, he became professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017.[7] He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics.[8][9]

Latour is best known for his books We Have Never Been Modern (1991; English translation, 1993), Laboratory Life (with Steve Woolgar, 1979) and Science in Action (1987).[10] Although his studies of scientific practice were at one time associated with social constructionist[10] approaches to the philosophy of science, Latour diverged significantly from such approaches. He was best known for withdrawing from the subjective/objective division and re-developing the approach to work in practice.[5] Latour said in 2017 that he is interested in helping to rebuild trust in science and that some of the authority of science needs to be regained.[11] Along with Michel Callon, Madeleine Akrich, and John Law, Latour is one of the primary developers of actor–network theory (ANT), a constructionist approach influenced by the ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel, the generative semiotics of Algirdas Julien Greimas, and (more recently) the sociology of Émile Durkheim's rival Gabriel Tarde.

  1. ^ Why has Critique Run out of steam
  2. ^ "Interview With Bruno Latour". 24 September 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  3. ^ Bruno Latour, preface to Thinking with Whitehead: A Free and Wild Creation of Concepts, by Isabelle Stengers, trans. Michael Chase (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2011), x.
  4. ^ "Professor Bruno Latour's Lecture on Politics and Religion: A Reading of Eric Voegelin: Bruno Latour's lecture on politics and religion". 27 July 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b Wheeler, Will. Bruno Latour: Documenting Human and Nonhuman Associations Critical Theory for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited, 2010, p. 189.
  6. ^ See Steve Fuller, "Science and Technology Studies", in The Knowledge book. Key concepts in philosophy, science and culture, Acumen (UK) and McGill-Queens University Press (NA), 2007, p. 153.
  7. ^ See Latour's "Biography" Bruno Latour's official website
  8. ^ "Bruno Latour, Instructor – Coursera". Coursera. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  9. ^ Dame, ENR/PAZ // Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre. "Bruno Latour // Events // Department of English // University of Notre Dame". english.nd.edu. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  10. ^ a b Heather Vidmar-McEwen,"Anthropologists biographies: Bruno Latour", "Anthropologists biographies: Bruno Latour", Indiana University Anthropology Department
  11. ^ Frazier, Kendrick (2018). "'Science Wars' Veteran Latour Now Wants to Help Rebuild Trust in Science". Skeptical Inquirer. 42 (1): 7.