[-empyre-] empyre and empirical : critical mass

[Christina McPhee <christina112@earthlink.net>]

Ryan wrote, quoting Bruno Latour,


> What I am going to argue is that the critical mind, if it is to  
> renew itself and be relevant again, is to be found in the  
> cultivation of a stubbornly realist attitude—to speak like William  
> James—but a realism dealing with what I will call matters of  
> concern, not matters of fact. The mistake we made, the mistake I  
> made, was to believe that there was no efficient way to criticize  
> matters of fact except by moving away from them and directing one's  
> attention toward the conditions that made them possible. But this  
> meant accepting much too uncritically what matters of fact were.
////

> Reality is not defined by matters of fact. Matters of fact are not  
> all that is given in experience. Matters of fact are only very  
> partial and, I would argue, very polemical, very political  
> renderings of matters of concern and only a subset of what could  
> also be called states of affairs. It is this second empiricism,  
> this return to the realist attitude, that I'd like to offer as the  
> next task for the critically minded.
> </quote>

and Ryan adds,
> =

>  When it seems "facts" are not enough to change the course of  
> events, or even just to "understand" events, engaging in  
> discussions that go "beyond" facts and frame things through  
> discursive, yet not relative, "concerns" (the "spirit of study"  
> Renee refers to maybe?) is i think productive.


I would agree.  I do think there is a great merit in a spirit of  
study from the inside as it were;  from the ethos of a place, in the  
case of site study; beyond what appear to be the material evidence,  
but without prejudicial favouring of quantitative analysis. A  
qualitative engagement and exploration is crucial since (following  
Latour)  there is no condition of 'fact' outside politics.  Combining  
multiple engagements over time brings a nuanced narrative into play  
and offers up an interpretative field that is both conceptually  
rigourous and does not dictate conclusions (polemic).   Other  
examples of this kind of practice include
Center for Land Use Interpretation, and the Museum of Jurassic  
Technology.


Christina


www.christinamcphee.net