The Ontological Turn:
Andrew Pickering
Multiple Nature-Cultures, Diverse Anthropologies June 1, 2017 DOI: 10.3167/sa.2017.610209 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Proposes an ontology of decentred becoming and the concept of 'islands of stability' to enable comparative analysis between scientific and shamanic worlds. Argues this approach allows critical reflection on modernity and highlights problems of anthropological translation, while noting that some scientific and nonscientific traditions do not centre on islands of stability. |
Abstract
I discuss different scientific and nonmodern worlds as they appear in a performative (rather than representational) idiom, situating my analysis in relation to the recent ontological turns in STS and anthropology. I propose an ontology of decentred becoming that can help us take seriously the multiplicity of ‘found’ ontologies. A key concept is that of ‘islands of stability,’ which enables a comparative transition between the worlds of science and shamanism. This offers an opportunity to reflect back critically and politically on modernity, while highlighting the problems of anthropological translation that surface in a performative apprehension of nonmodern worlds. In conclusion, I touch on scientific and nonscientific worlds (complexity theory, cybernetics, taoism, zen) that do not centre themselves on islands of stability.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Thinking through enactive agency: sense-making, bio-semiosis and the ontologies of organismic worlds Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences March 2, 2018
- What kind of science for dual diagnosis? A pragmatic examination of the enactive approach to psychiatry. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
- Beyond Local Domains: Connective Ontology in (Post-)Cognitive Sociology. Sociological research online September 1, 2025
- Linhas de fuga do Antropoceno: ontologias não-modernas e os antípodas da Razão e-cadernos CES December 9, 2024
- Cultural poetics of illness and healing Transcultural Psychiatry October 1, 2023