Bruno Latour

world continent fact lake uncertainty ocean island

—“The world is not a solid continent of facts sprinkled by a few lakes of uncertainties, but a vast ocean of uncertainties speckled by a few islands of calibrated and stabilized forms”

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

humanist technology attention respect

I have sought to offer humanists a detailed analysis of a technology sufficiently magnificent and spiritual to convince them that the machines by which they are surrounded are cultural artifacts worthy of their attention and respect.”

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

control creator care scruple caution attention revival

“There is no control and no all-powerful creator, either – no more ‘God’ than man – but there is care, scruple, cautiousness, attention, contemplation, hesitation and revival.”

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

philosophy explain occation happen

“Philosophy is not in the business of explaining anything. Actual occasions explain what happened, not philosophy.”

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

socialism destroy people ecosystem power west poverty

“The various manifestations of socialism destroyed both their peoples and their ecosystems, whereas the powers of the North and the West have been able to save their peoples and some of their countrysides by destroying the rest of the world and reducing it's people to abject poverty.”

― Bruno Latour

technology society durable

"Technology is society made durable."

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

everything happen once one place

“In other words, everything happens only once, and at one place.”

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

nature tiger docile automaton threat survival

"We would be better off thinking of nature as a tiger than as a docile and compliant automaton that can never threaten our survival."

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

Newton Einstein work scientist modernity

"If one looks at the works of Newton to Einstein, they were never scientists in the way modernity understands the term."

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

coronavirus possible economic system on hold redirect

"The first lesson the coronavirus has taught us is also the most astounding: we have actually proven that it is possible, in a few weeks, to put an economic system on hold everywhere in the world and at the same time, a system that we were told it was impossible to slow down or redirect."

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)

science complex messy understand climate illusion certainty

"science is more complex and messy than to understand how the climate works. It is an illusion of certainty to state that we fully understand it, a remnant of the ideal of science."

― Bruno Latour (1947-2022)