One Last Look at Latour

One thing from this class that I will take away with me was the final article by Latour. Perhaps the only bit from Latour that didn’t leave me more confused than before I read it, his article on critique really offered what I think is the most nuanced and realistic view on science, science studies, and society I have yet seen. I will admit, I wasn’t too fond of Monsieur Latour in the beginning of the year. Not only because of his verbose prose, or his maddeningly confusing glossary (each term’s definition contained references to at least 2-3 other terms!), but because I, like the scientist who confronts him in the beginning of the book, wasn’t entirely sure he believed in reality. However, after reading the last article I found that he actually made a lot of sense. This article not only helped me appreciate Latour’s perspective, but I feel it also offered many ideas which were relevant to this class. Being a biology major, I am probably quite predisposed towards defending science while ignoring other belief systems, yet after reading the last article I came to appreciate the many valid criticisms that can be raised against science. Science is not an entity distinct and separate from culture, nor does it offer us an untainted view of reality. While there is always the concern of bias and the misappropriation of scientific “facts” to promote our own “realities”, Latour also warns us that we must be equally aware of the opposite danger; that is, revisionism and its ability to distort science’s contributions. Critique certainly hasn’t, nor will it ever, lose its steam. Though we must sometimes turn critique on itself, and we must be careful to draw a line between critique and revisionism.