Michel Serres and French Philosophy of Science: Materiality, Ecology and Quasi-Objects (Michel Serres and Material Futures)

"Massimiliano Simons provides the first systematic study of Serres' work in the context of late 20th-century French philosophy of science. By proposing new readings of Serres' philosophy, Simons creates a synthesis between his predecessors, Gaston Bachelard, Georges Canguilhem, and Louis Althusser as well as contemporary Francophone philosophers of science such as Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers. Simons situates Serres' unique contribution through his notion of the quasi-object, a concept, he argues, organizes great parts of Serres' work into a promising philosophy of science as well as a challenge to the narrower field of French epistemology, to which it has often been limited. Simons highlights how the concept encompasses Serres' commitment to positive relations between science and culture and his rejection of pleas to purify the scientific self from imaginative and cultural elements. It helps to situate Serres between the distinct traditions of Bachelard and Latour as well as progressing the innovative aspects of Serres' philosophy for current debates in the philosophy, history, and sociology of science. Showing how Serres' philosophy can serve as a normative approach to science and technology, Michel Serres and French Philosophy of Science takes in themes of materiality, religiosity, modernity and ecology to advance a timely alternative to philosophy of science for contemporary life."-- Provided by publisher Massimiliano Simons provides the first systematic study of Serres's work in the context of 20th-century French philosophy of science. By proposing new readings of Serres's philosophy, Simons creates a synthesis between his predecessors, Gaston Bachelard, Georges Canguilhem and Louis Althusser as well as contemporary Francophone philosophers of science such as Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers. Simons situates Serres's unique contribution through his notion of the quasi-object, a concept, he argues, organizes great parts of Serres's work into a promising philosophy of science as well as a challenge to the narrower field of French epistemology, to which it has often been limited. Simons highlights how the concept encompasses Serres's commitment to positive relations between science and culture and his rejection of pleas to purify the scientific self from imaginative and cultural elements. It helps to situate Serres between the distinct traditions of Bachelard and Latour as well as progressing the innovative aspects of Serres's philosophy for current debates in the philosophy, history and sociology of science. Showing how Serres's philosophy can serve as a normative approach to science and technology, Michel Serres and French Philosophy of Science takes in themes of materiality, religiosity, modernity and ecology to advance a timely alternative to philosophy of science for contemporary life. "Massimiliano Simons provides the first systematic study of Serres's work in the context of twentieth-century French philosophy of science. By proposing new readings of Serres's philosophy, he creates a synthesis between his predecessors, Gaston Bachelard, Georges Canguilhem, and Louis Althusser as well as contemporary Francophone philosophers of science such as Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers. Simons situates Serres's unique contribution through his notion of the quasi-object, a concept, he argues, that organizes great parts of Serres's work into a promising philosophy of science as well as providing a challenge to the narrower field of French epistemology, to which it has often been limited. Showing how Serres's philosophy can serve as a normative approach to science and technology, 'Michel Serres and French Philosophy of Science' takes in themes of materiality, religiosity, modernity and ecology to advance a timely alternative to philosophy of science for contemporary life."-- Back cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Surrationalism after Bachelard: Michel Serres and le nouveau nouvel esprit scientifique Chapter 2: Michel Serres and the epistemological break Chapter 3: Purification as a practice of the self Chapter 4: French object-oriented philosophy in the 1970s: Serres, Dagognet and Latour Chapter 5: Brewers of time: Michel Serres and modernity Chapter 6: Thanatocracy and the anthropology of science Chapter 7: The secularization of science Chapter 8: The parliament of things and the Anthropocene: How to listen to quasi-objects Notes Bibliography Index