A Philosophy of Transport

Focusing upon the five books of his early Hermes series, this article argues that Michel Serres furnishes an accomplished, unconventional philosophical account of communication and mediation – a structuralist epistemology designed to comprehend the sciences in their complexity and plurality – that,...

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Main Author: Thomas Sutherland
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Simon Dawes, Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines (CHCSC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) 2021-09-01
Series:Media Theory
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Online Access:https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/905
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author Thomas Sutherland
author_facet Thomas Sutherland
author_sort Thomas Sutherland
collection DOAJ
description Focusing upon the five books of his early Hermes series, this article argues that Michel Serres furnishes an accomplished, unconventional philosophical account of communication and mediation – a structuralist epistemology designed to comprehend the sciences in their complexity and plurality – that, even decades after its first publication, has significant value for media theory. Two key themes within this pentalogy are highlighted: firstly, its emphasis upon motifs of communication, transport, and circulation, attempting to grasp the scientific field in topological terms, as a kind of networked encyclopaedia; and secondly, its attempt to account for the intricate relationship between the formal and the empirical in all theorization.
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institution DOAJ
issn 2557-826X
language English
publishDate 2021-09-01
publisher Simon Dawes, Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines (CHCSC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)
record_format Article
series Media Theory
spelling doaj-art-d79f663d409e4459acb6231795d52ca32025-08-20T02:41:10ZengSimon Dawes, Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines (CHCSC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)Media Theory2557-826X2021-09-015110.70064/mt.v5i1.905A Philosophy of TransportThomas Sutherland Focusing upon the five books of his early Hermes series, this article argues that Michel Serres furnishes an accomplished, unconventional philosophical account of communication and mediation – a structuralist epistemology designed to comprehend the sciences in their complexity and plurality – that, even decades after its first publication, has significant value for media theory. Two key themes within this pentalogy are highlighted: firstly, its emphasis upon motifs of communication, transport, and circulation, attempting to grasp the scientific field in topological terms, as a kind of networked encyclopaedia; and secondly, its attempt to account for the intricate relationship between the formal and the empirical in all theorization. https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/905Michel SerresGaston Bachelardepistemologynetworkspluralism
spellingShingle Thomas Sutherland
A Philosophy of Transport
Media Theory
Michel Serres
Gaston Bachelard
epistemology
networks
pluralism
title A Philosophy of Transport
title_full A Philosophy of Transport
title_fullStr A Philosophy of Transport
title_full_unstemmed A Philosophy of Transport
title_short A Philosophy of Transport
title_sort philosophy of transport
topic Michel Serres
Gaston Bachelard
epistemology
networks
pluralism
url https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/905
work_keys_str_mv AT thomassutherland aphilosophyoftransport
AT thomassutherland philosophyoftransport