ON THE REALIST PLURALISM OF BRUNO LATOUR

In this article I take a critical look at the origins and sources of Bruno Latour's pluralism as it is expressed in his book AN INQUIRY INTO MODES OF EXISTENCE, and compare it to other similar projects (Wittgenstein, Feyerabend, Badiou). I consider the accusations of reductionism and of relativism, and demonstrate that Latour's «empirical metaphysics» is not an ontological reductionism but a pluralist ontology recognising the existence of a plurality of entities and of types of entities. Nor is it an epistemological relativism but an ontological pluralism affirming the existence of a plurality of types of existence. These two strands, pluralist ontology and ontological pluralism, mutually reinforce each other to produce at least the outlines of a robust pluralist realism.

I defend the pluralist realism of Bruno Latour and Paul Feyerabend from its conflation with a vapid relativism of worldviews in which all opinions have equal validity.

In this article I take a critical look at the origins and sources of Bruno Latour's pluralism as it is expressed in his book AN INQUIRY INTO MODES OF EXISTENCE, and compare it to other similar projects (Wittgenstein, Feyerabend, Badiou). I consider the accusations of reductionism and of relativism, and demonstrate that Latour's «empirical metaphysics» is not an ontological reductionism but a pluralist ontology recognising the existence of a plurality of entities and of types of entities. Nor is it an epistemological relativism but an ontological pluralism affirming the existence of a plurality of types of existence. These two strands, pluralist ontology and ontological pluralism, mutually reinforce each other to produce at least the outlines of a robust pluralist realism

Common Knowledge, 2013, fall 2014

An Inquiry into Modes of Existence (AIME) is a multimedia exhibition of the results of Latour's thirty-year-long investigation into how Moderns -Western, educated, technically well-equipped, well-meaning, proudly enlightened, and self-described rational humans -comport themselves and explain the world.

Isis 105/3 (2014): 673-675

Erkenntnis, 2014

This paper offers a discussion of metaphysical pluralism, alethic pluralism, and logical pluralism. According to the metaphysical pluralist, there are several ways of being. According to the alethic pluralist, there are several ways of being true, and according to the logical pluralist, there are several ways of being valid. Each of these three forms of pluralism will be considered on its own, but the ambition of the paper is to explore possible connections between them. My primary objective is to present and develop a positive account according to which the different forms of pluralism are intimately related. I will proceed in two steps. First, I will investigate the connection between alethic pluralism and logical pluralism. I will argue that a certain version of alethic pluralism supports logical pluralism. Second, I will connect alethic pluralism and logical pluralism to metaphysical pluralism. I will suggest that the former two are at least partly founded on the latter.

Firstly, I give the definition of Real Pluralism. Then I give 10 examples of the realizations of Real Pluralism. And in section 3, I show the difficulties encountered in the realizations of Real Pluralism. Following the difficulties, I try some possible savers to save us from the difficulties. Lastly, I give a metric to measure different Ontologies.