Conversations on Science, Culture, and Time: Michel Serres with Bruno Latour

by Michel Serres, Roxanne Lapidus (Translator)

Although elected to the prestigious French Academy in 1990, Michel Serres has long been considered a maverick--a provocative thinker whose prolific writings on culture, science and philosophy have often baffled more than they have enlightened. In these five lively interviews with sociologist Bruno Latour, this increasingly important cultural figure sheds light on the ideas that inspire his highly original, challenging, and transdisciplinary essays.

 Serres begins by discussing the intellectual context and historical events-- including the impact of World War II and Hiroshima, which for him marked the beginning of science's ascendancy over the humanities--that shaped his own philosophical outlook and led him to his lifelong mission of bringing together the texts of the humanities and the conceptual revolutions of modern science. He then confronts the major difficulties encountered by his readers: his methodology, his mathematician's fondness for "shortcuts" in argument, and his criteria for juxtaposing disparate elements from different epochs and cultures in extraordinary combinations. Finally, he discusses his ethic for the modern age--a time when scientific advances have replaced the natural necessities of disease and disaster with humankind's frightening new responsibility for vital things formerly beyond its control.

 In the course of these conversations Serres revisits and illuminates many of his themes: the chaotic nature of knowledge, the need for connections between science and the humanities, the futility of traditional criticism, and what he calls his "philosophy of prepositions"--an argument for considering prepositions, rather than the conventionally emphasized verbs and substantives, as the linguistic keys to understanding human interactions. For readers familiar with Serres's works as well as for the uninitiated, Conversations on a Life in Philosophy provides fascinating insights into the mind of this appealing, innovative and ardent thinker.

 Michel Serres has taught at Clermont-Ferrand, at the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes) and at the Sorbonne. He has served as visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University and has been on the faculty of Stanford University since 1984. Bruno Latour, a philosopher and anthropologist, is Professor of Sociology, L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines in Paris. He has written several books and numerous articles on the ties between the sciences and the rest of culture and society.

 Roxanne Lapidus is Managing Editor of SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism. Conversations on a Life in Philosophy was originally published in France as Eclaircissements.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Science, Theory, Cultural Studies, Cultural

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Michel Serres was a French philosopher, theorist and author.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the single most important work for those new to Michel Serres seeking to understand the great significance of his work. Latour puts Serres to the test, bringing forward the numerous misconceptions that have predominated the academic institution's anxiety about Serres's work. Through the discourse, one understands that for Serres to break open a doorway that's been fixed shut for 2300 years, numerous conventions were going to have to be disrupted.

A serious reading of Conversations will help one understand both why Serres is such a puzzle to those still thinking through the constraints of the Enlightenment and provides a path for the comprehension and integration of Serres's works. It's truly remarkable to see Latour's own evolution through the five interviews, approaching firmly from the traditional philosophical institution with great frustration (yet suspicion that something very significant is occurring that shouldn't be ignored; a major innovation in philosophy) to a grasp of both the method and the positive, open door that Serres has left us with.

[Clyde Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books of all time and I've read it multiple times.

Latour does a great job of interviewing Serres who opens up and explains the whole game.

Some really beautiful moments occur despite the fact that it's a transcript, however edited, of a staged discussion.

[Samar · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is absolutely brilliant. a perfect read for anyone who finds themselves lost between the constructed (as serres argues, and I agree with him) dichotomy between the sciences and humanities

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

40% of this book, verbatim:

latour: i’d like to ask you about your method, why you write the way you do.

serres: do not ask me such questions now; i am maligned and misunderstood by the academy.

latour: doubtless. they see you as imprudent.

serres: i have been seen as naive my whole life. as a schoolboy they looked at me and said “you are naive.”

latour: nevertheless, i must ask you about your method of writing…

it is like a long-lost platonic dialogue written by a woodpecker. the επανάληψ… ιον.

beautiful nietszchean paragraph on p. 180

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the fist half I wasn't sure if Latour was trolling Seres or not, but by the end he seems satisfied with Serres' worldview.

I've not read early Serres, but I've started the sequence starting with HOMINISCENCE, so I though I would bring myself up to speed with this book. It was helpful.

NB: read the brief afterword by the translator before starting the text. It will obviate much that is likely to confuse you.

[Juliette Gagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Du bonbon

[Vietzsche · Rating 4 out of 5]

对于塞尔而言，哲学此后既不是认识论也非本体论。它不应该成为科学解释的广告，也不为存在负全部的责任，尤其是在线性时间中精神逐步完善自己的救赎历史已经被后现代的非线性时间观破坏殆尽的情况下。在此，哲学以连接、传递或速度的面貌重生看起来是合理的，“我无法保持正确”，哲学已经失去或从未有过解释这一切的能力。

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great exchange between two important late 20th century writers