ANTi-Human: The Ethical Blindspot

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Author(s): Michel Schreiber (University of Constance, Germany)
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 11
Source title: Applying the Actor-Network Theory in Media Studies
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Markus Spöhrer (University of Konstanz, Germany)and Beate Ochsner (University of Konstanz, Germany)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0616-4.ch016

Keywords: Digital Communications / Digital Media / Information Science Reference / Media & Communications

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Abstract

In his writings on the gunman, Bruno Latour (1994) paraphrases the anti-human ideology of the National Rifle Association of the USA. Amongst a long list of stances one can find nonsense such as: “One is born a good citizen or a criminal. Period.” I will not suggest that Latour is an advocate in favor of the NRA's strange cause or in favor of their ideology. Nevertheless, will I use this example to point out the biggest flaw in the so called Actor-Network Theory – or at least Latour's version of ANT: The absolute ignorance to ethical doubts towards that specific approach of describing our world and what ONE calls society. I will bring forth this argument using not much more than this one example, this absolute negation of ethical philosophy and humane thought. I will therefore use a very fundamentalist approach to ethics, as it was developed by Emanuel Levinas (1988). Within this framework it will become obvious why ANT may be a good tool to describe technical processes within a society, but will always fail to explain the human side of things.

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