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On the Public Use of Hrstory: Fifth Dimension
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\Why a "DemocracyPrize"
L c e ds, t o r e di n a r e t r i e v a l BruttoLatoar
f o r D e n i e lG o l . l h a g e n : 170
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m e c h a n i c a l ,p h o t o c o p y - Jiirgen Hal:enttas
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r9
I I'

r/txtttg QuestroningIncommensurabilitl'
Five Poems
in this journal are ab- in Early Modern Cultural Exchange
Par/ Hoat'er
d in ,lll-Â lnternttiana/ Daniel Carel'
t>9
tl ,\bttrtc/s and Anerica: 12

Imagining Totality:
Lrlrlp REvrr:ws
Rhetoricsofand versus"Culture"
Jresscliangesro CoiltDtotl
SusanHegenan LisaJard)ne
; Fuliillment Depart-
' r s i r vP r e s s1, 0 0 1 E v a n s t1 Lts/ieKo/ûrener
-i SirJohnBoardnun
1i . P o s t a g e p a i d a t
The Chiming of the Void:
L .. r n c a
l c l c l i r i o n aol f 6 c e s . RoltertA. Rosenstrnte
Poetryand Liberatron
Char/esJt,hnson
. l r . t r i b u r e db v M . A . l . L . in The Srorl,rf the Stane
Pbi/ippe Carrarcl
. 1 r , 1 1a. h
1. . A'enel, NJ Dore./. Let'1'
Paa/ Fe1'erabend
99 Ann)eDi//ard
p r i n r r d o n a c i d - f i e ep a - Sisse/a
Bok
The Open Societyand Its Enemies:
rrnlnrum reqLllrements Charl esP. K i ndl eberger
Community, Authority,
I i9..rS 198+. (Perma- trlikhai/ Epstein
Bureaucracy
- . r : r n n i n r :r v i t h V o l . l , Tbe Editrtrs
XL A. Notrrno
r39
r22
t ) - b r , 'O x f b r d U n i v e r -
 REvrew Norus oN CoNTRTBUToRS
1r)2
"They Should Have Knoç'n":
On the Indeterminacyof Time
JosephFrank
lt0

Pleasevisit the journal's \ù7orldWide \feb srte at

http://wrvw.oup.co.uk/common
or
http://v'ww.utdallas.edu/research/common-knowledge/index.html

he Den
mann c
reclprenron t
moral strengtl
ulus to the puJ
ity for what c
This reference
and to the cor
sition to a Ber
deattcheund ittt
not. It cannot
Germany as w,
uted greatly tc
German citize
devotion of an
Mommsen, an
trich Pohl, anc
contemporary
to understand
received.Awar
that both boo
is welcome.
This view I
its derractors
event, thus sa
ob;ectedthat t

An earlier vers
the 1997 Democra
 Tnnrxs op TsoucHT: Pracer. FoRrtertsu. atopicirlcr
by a sudd
AND THE Frprn DrlrgNsrox
an arfow r
have no oç
the cold i
BruttoLatour
calculater
the "lived
benchma
equipmen
of operati
are theseo
timeless,s
Pnolocut': A Srnoll At-oNc Larr NeucuÀrrL. my world,
I have left

f , r rrnny',this morning on LakeNeuchâtel,and wincly and cold. \What'sthat bright feature, an

I
I litrle shepeout rherei Ah, a sailborrd in the rvind. It's n-rovrngfast. Ho"v fasti'I boarder(n
tl-relamppostsalong the qlla)'to tick tl-retime it takes him to pzrssbehind
cnr.rldr,rse He rs not r
eachof them. \Wirh a good Swisschronometer,a knowledgeof l-ro*,iar the sarlboarrd
is timelessar
from the land, an evaluationof the angle of i1s ç6111ss-notan eas\rtask, given the "lived" rin

erratic movesof the board-I could come Llp with a speed;tl-ratis. a rauo of distance speed,I m
becauseI'm prerty bad at cirlculating,evenworse
over time. Of course,I reallvcor-rldn't inside the
I can onlv play the obsen'eron the margin. Oops, there l-reis in
than at saiLboarding. psycholog
the water! Here he is again, back on the board, on a different tack, even fâsteralong calculatio
the wavesnorv crestedrvith the white foirm triggered by t}-refiercerswen'ing wind. of rvatcl-re
Norv thzrthe is closerto me. I seea broad smile on his face.The sailboarderseemsto helpersi'E
enjoy himself immensely.He doesnot seetime passing.Strangeto tr.vto measuretime La Chaux c
of a conferenceon
u,hile strolling along the lake, during the break betweensessions to the worl
"Piagetand Time." Even strangerto plav the outsideobserver.Of course,I could calcu- valleys,bri
late tl-resailboardtrajectoryand obtain a ratio, a fbrm, a speed,something that ç'ould in what so
neither be in time, nor in space.A timelessnumber. I too could reach,from safeand wing aregr
solid ground, the suregraspof a formalism.But then, wouldn't somethingbe missingl tive, psych
\What, wl-ratexactly,would be missingi'No hurry here.Take your time. The meering the "lived"
They talk about "lived" time. Careful.
is full oipsychologists,of phenomenologists. surements
They have iin ax to grind. They want to criticize scientilic time, the atemporrrland board onto
At the last

'NIind space-tlme
T h i s p a p e r i s a v e r s i o no i r h e k e t n o t e a c l d r e s g srven at the sl mposrum a n c lT i m e . o r g a n i z e dr o
. h e a u t h o r s i s h e sr o t h a n k  n n e - N t l l y ' P e r r e r -
c c l e b r a t et h e c e n t e n a r l o' f J e a n P i a g e ts b i r t h i n n - e u c h â t e l T in time. Hr
C l e r m o n t f b r t h e i n v i t a t i o n t o t h i s e v e n t a n d f o r h e r p e r m i s s i o n r o p u b l i s h i r i n ( u u a r n K n o u/ e t / g <A.
version q,ill appear in Su t.rç,\ltnu,'trrfthtit Ptlcl:tlogl. vol. -i, ed. Anne-Nellv Pcrrtt-Clernront er al., 199fJ.
O H o g r e f e & H u b e r P u b l i s h e r s ,S e a t t l eT o r o n r o G i i t t i n g e n B e r n . T h e a u t h o r a l s o r v j s h e st o r h r n k N r r l s
V i g g o - l l a n s e n . f b r c o m m e n t i n g o n r h e r e x t . a n d J o h n T r e s c h ,t b r i r s s i s t a n c rev i r h r h e E n g l i s h v t r s r o n . ; s
rvell irs to ircknorvledgeinrcllectuirl debrs to Gcoffrel Borvkcr. Edrvin Il
 âropicalcoordinatesof wl-ratthey call science.(There,he'sfallen again,brought down
by a suddengust. There he is again,darting away now.) Is the sailboardermoving like
an arrow in "lived" time and spaceiUnlikely. "Lived," one of theseempty words that
haveno oppositeand aregiven a semblanceofprofundity becausethey appearto attack
apparatusof dead reason.IF I had managed to
the cold and timelessand spaceless
calculate tl-respeedof that dartrng sailboarder,in what way would I have abandoned
the "lived" world of rhis sunny day in Neuchâteli I would haveneededa watch, and a
benchmark,and posts,and rulers, and a staff of helpers,and theodolites,the whole
equipment and crew that Ed Hutchins describesso well when he shorvsthe number
to steera dreadnougl'rtinto SanDiego Harbor.r In what sense
of operationsnecessary
are theseoperationsnot "lived"2 In the end I would haveobtaineda speed-rhàt is, e
ligure, a fbrm, a ratio, on a pieceof paper,held in my l"rand,inside
timeless,spaceless
my world, along the beach,under the sun, on the campus.So then, at no point would
I have left the world. I rvould have added to Lake Neuchâtel anotherpiece,another
: bright feature, an observersertinélup apparatusesto ctrlculatesailboard speeds.But the sail-
' fast/ I
boarder(now barelya spot on the horizon)is not adding "fun" to the caiculatedspeed.
behind He is not adding rhe "lived" feelingof a sunny morning to the accuratedefinition of a
>oardis instant and place. \ùfhy are all thesepsychologistscomFarrng
timelessand spaceless
lrcn the "lived" rime to "real" time, "subjective"time to "objective"timei My calculationof

isrance my instrrution ro extract speedfrom the sailboarder,is

speed,I mean my appararLls,
I \\'OrSe inside the rvorld wl-rerehe sails fast, and is not the depth featureon which his own
re rs ln psychologicalworld would be built. Horv could I be so arrogantas to imagine that my
r along calculationdellnesthe primary quality of everythingelsei How could I be so forgetful
; rvind. ofrvatches,and poles,and rulers,and crews,and staff,and compasses,
and seriousSwiss
ems to helpers?Especiallyhere, just a few hours after having visited the Museum of Time in
re tlme La Chaux de Fondi No, the watch is not the depth featureofthe horizon but is added
nce on ro rhe world, and so is this tenaciousand ingeniousindustry cuddled in its mountain
calcu- valleys,bringing so much wealth to this doll-houseuniversity.But then, if I am right,
s'ould in what sort of world is the sailboardermovingi'(Now, the dark speckand triangular
rle and wing aregrowing fastagain,straight toward me.) No, no, he is not rn a human, subjec-
issingl tive, psychological,mental time-space.I want no part in painting this tableau,where
the "lived" world adds fa.lsebut warm colors to a real but bleak reality made o[ mea-
areful. surements.(He is strll grinning, going fast toward the beachas if he wanted to skate-
'al and board onto the campusgreen,stra.ightout of the lake-enjoying himself immensely.
At the lasr secondhe briskly veersaway and is gone again.) Enjoyment. That is the
space-rimein rvhich he residesand moves.He is no more moving rn spacethan he is
nizcJ to
Perret- in time. He is nor adding a subjectivemorning to real mornings. Subjectivelakesro

.. L99ri.
k Niels
s i o n ,a s
E d r v i n H u t c h i n s , ( , t , q u i t i , , rt u t l n \ \ t l , / ( C t m b r i d g e : M I T P r e s s .l 9 9 j )
 -] (-OTlNION KNo\\'I-EDC;E
]

real lakes.He exploresthe mr-rltiplicrtyof ways of being, he goesfrom some to many, somerhrn
from a lower to a higher intensity.Yes,that's it, he
from a little wind co a hercep1ale, embedde
rs moving into enjoyment,intensity,waysof being, alterations;and if I want to calcu- the rvork ,
late l-risspeed,I can, but I rvon't deline the depth of hjs rvorld, rhe backdropof all fbrgorten.
exiscence, mavbea grey,
I will sinrpll ad.l a color ro the manl'colors rhereare alreaclv. rvhrch Ner
a dark color, but still a color. And rhrLs,my dear psvchologistcolleagues.there is no this inrern
need to turn toward the mind or subjectivitltto escapefrom cold and objerrive time the measu
to lind the rich "lived" rvorld of meaning.To hnd richness.one onll- hasto turn toward economt'b
the world itself, to the rvind, the fb:rnr,the sun, the snos,-cappedmountains in the arly lile. "t
background,rhe elrnest miniacr-rre "Objective" tin-reand "sub-
city behind tire irarbror. of m}' som
jective" time are like taxesexactedfiom what peoplesche rvorld, they are not all that rvhich I of
these multitucles do and seeancl meirn and want. \7e irre not fbrceclto chclosefbrever rvhy closea
betrveenlosing either rhe leeling of trme or the strucruralleaturesof the rvorld. Pro- ogy has no
are no more in time than rn space.Processis a thir.l term, as if the sailboarding
cesses as havln! e
inro rvaysof berng, exploring its alteritv, ics alterations.A third cerm!
were movin-e1 conse(l
uen(
My God, aren't)'ou tired of trying or-rtthird terms over.rndover and over.only to hear Imirgine
your auclienceobjecti ("Yes,but time is not a mere socialconstruction!"\Who said it a hatchera
but nobody listens.)Their love-hatcirffairwitl-rsciencehiisblinded
rvasTNot I anyrva1,, ters of path
r h e n rt o t h i r d p o s s i b i l i r i e sI f. i t i s n o t o b j c c t r v et,h e n i r i s s u b j e c t i v eI.f i t i s n o t s u b j e c - of her elfbr
tive, then it is objective.Chances.rrethat if they undcrstoodthat I irm not a social D r L r s nI. h e
'Well,
constrlrctivist,they rvould recoil in horror: "But rhis rs rrbjectmetaphysics! too among othr
bad, I'm afraid it is. (The sailboarderis back norv,folding his equipment. packing it all her lrtè e
Llp,seemshappy.)Time to resumethe session,to hearmore about the many clilferences ber ir becar
bet*,eenthe "lived notron of time irncl reirl"tinre. . . . otl-rerentiti
and hrrdorh
TUE Panaoox oF 'rHE TwiN Tnnvrlr:ns For com
ro the confe
To meet together in order to celebrateJean Piaget's centenary,we need s(rn)eilte.tillre ci
Passenger
of rime-fbr instance,his birch cercificate,issLredb1'the rvell-or.{anized
Nerrchâtel b 1 '1 5 . , 0 . . .
the computing of hor.rrs
bureaucrarcy, in cheannalsof
and daysand months calcr-rlated screen.FIe <
astronomersand by variousBureausof Longitr.rde-and rvealsohaveto rell on a vener- traceof rhe
able \ùTestern
tradition rhat stresses and prefersnice round nr,rmbers
ânnrversanes like a few cranrp
I(X) or 1000 ro morc exoriconeslike 88 or ll-l or 6(r(rand that puts speciirlenrphasis b e rl i t r l e e l s
on someonesbirthpLaceinsteld ot. fbr instirnce,the cicr' rvherehis books u'ere lirsc rn the nervs
publisl-red i1cthe right
or from which his first grant wasarvarded.. . . Simplv to éaather the gzrresnn
time, 1996, und at tl-reright place, Neuchâtel,it is alreadyclear that rve needmaps, a/ignediu the
institutions, recordingdevices,and traditionsof ritr-ral. ond rvith rl-
If I remind rhe reirderof rheserrifling tletails,ir is not to be impolite anrl criticize TGV qLralit
the title of the conferenceto rvhich l was invited-'lrlind end Timc"-brrt to stress .rnl'thinrl rvo
that "time" is not somethingthat is in the "mincl" or that is "thor-rght"bv a mind, but cing ofî rhe t
 .fRÂINS
OtJ THOL

to nran)" something rooted in a lonÉlmzlterialtrnd technica.lpracticeof record-kcepring,

itself
ar's lt, he embeddedin institutions and lociil histories.In philosophicaldiscussions
abotrt time,
to ca.lcu- the rvork of inscription and the fàbricationof siilk1-in the plLrral-is .rll too ofien
:op of all forgotten. To recovertrme we need to clelveinto rhe macl-rinery
of measuringir, for
)e à é{rey, rvhich Neucl-râtelancl its region arreknown the rvorld over. The amusing paradox of
Iete ls no rhis internationalconfèrencewasto havechosen,in honor ofthe local hs16,21thsrns-
rivetime recording,and fàbricationsf simg5-5hat is well known ro tl-reSwiss
the measuremenr,
n torvard economybut tl-rarPiagetdid l-risutmost to illnore,cven repress,throughout his schol-
ns in tlre arly life. "Horv rl.reFabrication of Time N'erzrEntered Piaget s Xtind" could be the tirle
'sub-
.nd of my somervl-rat euk.rgy.. . . I do not write here i1sa specialiston Piaget,
embarr2lssed
t all thar q,hich I ofcourse am not, bur as a philosopherofscienceinterestedin understanding

re forever why closeattentionto the practiceoffabricating time and spacern scienceand technol-
rlcl. Pro- ogy has not done more to renew the philosophyof time. Piaget,in this respect,stands
boarding as having expendedmore eneré{yin the eflort to ignore the fabricationoitime and irs
rd term! for philosophythan any other intellectualoi the centurv.
consequences
y to hear imagine twin travelers.The hrst setsofï into ir deep jungle and cuts her way with
r o s a i di r along a trail thzrtis barelyvisible. Each minute, as she opensa fèrvccnrime-
a l-ratchet
; blinded ters of pathrvay,sheâgesmore thàn one minute. Shesrveats.Her body bearsthe traces
r <n h ier- oF l-rerefforts: each meter ctrn be read rn the bloody scarsmade by thorns and broken
a social brush. The path is cut as she dclvilnces,
br-rtshe is cr-rtas well. A sr-rflering
body strives
Well,too amonÉlother suffering bodies,vines,grass,and woods. She rvill no cloubt remember
rcking it the jungle. ShervilLremem-
all her lifè everymoment of this excruciirtingtrip chrougl-r
fferences ber it becauseeachcentimeterhas beenwon throush a complicatedne!{otiationwith
orl.rerenriries,brancl-res,
snakes,and sticks rhat were proceedingin other clirections
and had other endsand goals.
For comparison,imagine tl-recomlort of the other twin, her brother,rvho traveled
as I did, by TGV He sat quietly in his first-class,air-conditioned
ro the confèrence,
passengercar and read his newspaper,paying no .rttention to the m.rny placespassed
euchâtel train, all of which looked to him like landscapes
by the speedinél proiectedon a movre
rnnalsof screen.He did not âge more rhirn thc rhree hor-rrs
of tl-retnp. He bearsvirtually no
tl Vener- trace of the journev, except fi)r a fèrv wrinkles on l-ristrousersand maybe the effèctsof
berslike a few crarnpscausedby not ofien enor.rgh
stretchinghis long lecs,trnd l-rervill remem-
mphasis ber litrle elseexcepthaving traveleclbv train insteadofplane. Only the articlesl-reread
'ere hrst might be brieflv recaliecl.
in the nervspaper All the atoms oisteel, all the electrons,all
he right the gates and srvitches,all rhe ef-tortsof the train companies,SNCF and CFS, rvere
cl mirps, t/ircctirtn.gorng fist throuth spacern time, complying to the millisec-
a/igneJit tltesrtnrc
oncl with the rvorld-fàmousS\\'issex,rctitudeand rvith the almost as famous Frencl-r
c rit icize TGV qualitv oiservice.No negotiarionakrng rhe way, no event, henceno memory of
to stress rnything worth mentioning. An unevtntfirl trip," as he saysto 1-ris
Friends,hcn gct-
ind, bur tinc ofï the train.
 \ùfhy comparethesetwins and l-rowthev agei'Todirect our attention to a phenome- Vh
non rhat is logicalli,prior to the lirbrications[1irns5-1hs relacionbetweentrdu\zrrd- the nur
t ian and tranlfrtrnat ion. his sn-
With eachmove, the woman traveleris modified and ages;she may even loseher shocke
life en route. The male rravelerremarnsunchansedby his smooth and speedytrip, kilome
which only an anonymousbomb or, aswe shall see,a strike could interrupt. Thus, the Alps an
woman travelerwill equatetransportation(or displacement)with modification,aging, wirh its
history,transformation,metamorphosis.The male travelerwill differentiatetwo ap- was a ch
parently different phenomena:moving through spacein time, on the one hand, and tiated i
aging, living, suffering,parriciparing in evenrson the orher. Since the relation be- norhiné
ts,eenrransportationand transformationdilfers in the travelerscases,the produccion senÉjers
of times and spaces,I want to argue,will be enr)rell,different.
The lirst travelerwill nity of t
not differenciatespace,time, and agingt we will call her indifferentitttionpntcessra/.) rhe scar
Her twin brother will find no difliculty in distin.quishingrvhat is displacedfrom the way, forc
immutable frameworkin uhich ir is displaced. having b
The separationbetweentime and spaceon the one hand and entities, beings,or open par
evenrson the other, is zora fundamentaldistinction, bllt one made by touetravelersin longer c(
some very specificand historicallv situated meansof transportiltion.iHence, in dis- s t a t i o n .j
cussingtime, we n'right not haveto pay exclusiveattention to the two major relevant from Par
posirionsthrrt haveoccupiedmodern philosophers.Time and spaceare not the New- So thr
toman settsoriain which events occllr and planets lall along ellipses. But neither are ar/sersone
thev lorms oior-rrperception,the universala prioris that our mind has to use in order aligned I
to fiame or accommodaterhe multiplicity oFbeingsand entities.Far from being prim- passaé{e
irive tenu. chey :rre,on the contrary, nnte.liletuetof the u'ays in w'hich bodies reltrteto reallv oth
one anorher.S7emust rhereforeInk our meditarion on time to a third tradition. the aries/Tin
Leibnizian,which considersspaceand time as expressingsome relation betweenthe ceprion.I
Bur insreadof a singlespace-time,we will generateasmanv spaces
entiriesthemselves. and spac
and trmes as there are types oi relations.'Thus. progressingalong jungle rrails will poinr oi t
not producethe samespace-timesas moving smoothly along networks.tlt makesan Jtirnt.
enormous differenceif that body is a suftèring body among other suflèring bodies or a \Ve car
relaxedair-conditionedexecutiveon a bullet train. of transfo
the nr-rm
subjective
' Process is
ofcourse taken iiom \}"'hireheads philosophy. The present paper is a meditation comple- will obtai
m e n r i n g a p r e v i o u sp i e c eo f m i n e , D o S c i e n t i l i cO b j e c t s H a v e a H i s t o r y i P a s t e u ra n d \ f h i t e h e a d i n a B a t h
o f L a c r i c A c i c l .C t t t u u n K n o u l e t l g , 5 ( S p r i n g 1 9 9 6 l : ' - !6l . f t e s c a p e t h e n a r r o w l i m i t s o f s o c i a l c o n s t r u c c i v - define thir
isnr. rt seenrsthat the history of screncercguires more and more onroLolly.
trnd insist
-lr
i s , i o r i r s r a n c e ,h a r d t o e x p r e s sr h i s i n C h i n e s et h o u g h r . a c c o r t l i n gt o F r a n ç o i s J u l l i e n , T f u P r o p e n s i t l firr insran
uJ'tltiug:'foutnltHrtorloJF,flitaclirChtua(Cambcidge; ZoneBooks, 1995).
path of a
'Niels Viggo-Hansen, ProcessThought, Teleology, ancl 1-hermodynamics (a paper presented at the
c o n t r r e n c eo n T i m e . [ { e a t . i r n d O r c l e r , A a r h u s , S e p c e m b r r 1 9 9 1 ) , a n d h i s P h . D . d i s s .t f b r t h c o m i n g ) .
builr,strc

-Onthcnoriono1-rrails,secAclrianCussins, pin-srripe
Content,Embodinrent,anclObjectivity':TheTheoryoi
C r r - { n i t r v eT n i l s . , 1 1 r a .l1( l I ( O c t o b r e rl ' X ) l ) : 6 5 1 8 8 . progress,:
 \ùZharis this differencei'Canrvemake it more precise/Yes,if we take inro irccount
enome-
nsp0fta- the number and nilture of the others *,ith rvhich eachtraveleris involved.In spite of
his smoorh trip-l neglecred to mencion thi5 s111lis1-somethingmarked and

lose her shockeclour male traveler.irnd rnade his trip memorable.The train passedùt lt0

Cy trip, kilomerersan hour withcrutstopping àt Culoz, tl-replacervhereall trains bound for tl-re

rus, the Alps and Switzerlandusedto srop until a few yearsago.He rememberedLake Bourget,

, aglncsi, with its clecksand buffet, to rvhich the stop at Culoz gave his fanrily accessrvhen he

rwo ap- was a child. \What used to be an tmportanr p/arzhad becomea nonexistenr,undrffèren-

nd, and tiated irslant along the train's route. For chis traveler, the event rvasthe very fact thar

ron be- nothing in the stirtioncould n-rirkethis plrrceeventfLrl,memorable,markirble,in p:is-

ducrion sengerslives any more. Further, the nativesof this little town no longer had the clig-

ler will nity of being able to stop the rrain, to board it or alight from it. Tl-renatives'ties to

sna/.' the srationhad earlierresembledthe iiirnasoiour femaietraveler,blocking rlre patl-r-

"'e.ç
:om the way',forcing passengers
to make detours,acceptdelals, rvait for later trainsi thoseties
having beencut as the trvin haclcut her lianas,the tracksat Culoz norv resembledthe

i n g s ,o r open pirth that she had left throup;hthe jtrngle.This little station had cotrnted,it no
.elersin longer counts.It interrupredpassengerstrips, it no longer interrupts them. It v'as a

in dis- station,it is no longer a station.The rails, rvellaligned,now mn in only one direction,

:elevant from Paristo Geneva.

e New- So the difference between the trips that our trvins took comes from the nrnber of'

ther are one has ro rake into accor"rnt,

oThers and from the naturt of those others. Are rhey rvell-

n order making no fuss irnd no history and thus allowing a smoorh

aligned interaeditrres,

g prim- pâssage,or lull aediator:rdefining pirrhs and lates on their orvn termsl Are they

elate to really others-that is. mediacors-or are rhey more of the same-rhat is, intermedi-

r o n ,t h e aries/ Timing dependson that sort of onrologicaldifference,nor on the rnind'sapper-

een the fbr or-rrexistence(and surpriseus), then times

ception. If other entities tlre necessar)'

i'Spaces nnd spaceswill proliferate.In the op1'rosite

case,times rnd spirceswill rareij'ro the

,ilswill pornt of becomingrrlt:time-space!or even!as rve sl-rallsee,ra time and aa space,only

akes an
l i e so r a \fle can now situllreour twins aLongone dimensiontlrat takesinco2rccount
rhe raticr
over transportatlonor else the number of mediatorscomprllsd s.
of transf-ormation
the number of intermediaries.But if we rvant to esczrfre
the usual oppositionbetween
sublectiveand objectivetime. $'e can go further and rnraginea seconddimensionthat
r comPle- will obtarn for us a richer grid to devclopour discr-rssion
of time-spacefabrication.To
in a Barlr
rstructi v- deline rhis seconddimension,s'e m.ry connectour twins'biographiesin one scenario
and insist now on tbt /tbr,r nr(rssùrv ro rcachone position fron-rthe otl-rer.imrrgine,
Pnpen:it1 firr insrance,that thr femaletil rn is a surveyorsent by â companyto explorethe future
path of a bullet train. a pirth rhet s'ill in a fèw vearsbe planned,desrgned,fi-rnded,
ed at flre
completed,and erentualll'usedbv her fbrgetfirlbrother+'earinghis
built, successtullv
18)
pin-striped suit. Each locus.carh sitc that, before,had blocked or slowed his sister's
[heory of
progress,aging her lnd clusinr: htr p.rin. liirs now been turned into a well-aLigned
 -6 (.oMNto\
1 KÀ--O\\'LEt)L',E

intermedian' tlrat lends its fbrce,goal, rvill, or end to the path of the rushing train. Thisgi
Each tree, house.hut, vine in the path of the bullet train hirs been rentl hencethe
it t'rrslorvsit down. Speedcrucially dependson the
rrain'sspeed-nothing inrerru1.15
number of intermediariesrelarrveto rhe nunrber of medrators.The speedof the train
Tru
are entlrely dependenton the complercobedi-
and the uneventfLrltrip oithe passenger -I ran
oithe phces traversed-and alsooicourse on the smooth tuncrioning of tl-retrain
e'acz
compân\''sorgirnizirtionnrnning, as the savin.qgoes,"like clockwork."
Intt
Hou'ever,our story cor-rldalso go in the other direction. The inhabitants,whose
c i t v h a s b e e nd i v i d e d b 1 ' t h e l i n e , m r l d e c i d et o p r o t e s tb 1 ' s i t t i n g o n t i r e t r i i c k so r
I
e v e np u t t i n g l o g so n r h e r a i l sa n d s e t t i n gt h e m c r nf i r e ( n o t i n S w i t z e r l a n do. f c o l r r s e ,
tl'ratwould be unthinkable; but let us szryrn the French section!).Then what wouid
on the train sould start to age.The crainblocked.thel'rvoulcl
hirppeni'Thep:rssengers
of the protest,become
be stuck in rhis to them meaninglesshamlet.u'hich has,because
a meaningful place,a site, an event-producingt0p0r.Hostagesof fbrtune, the passen- The
gers u,ill start rememberingrhis trip. They will begin ro leel the pùsstlge
of time and zrndis u
t o f è e l t i m e g o i n g s l o r v l yo r f a s t .T h e l ' w i l l b e g i n t o h a v et h e i m p r e s s i o no f a " l i v e d " the othe

time and spacethat they did not have rvhen the cr;rinrr,.tsmovinplqtrickly, unevent- which sl

firlly. Buseswill have ro rake rhem arv:rvtlom rhe sracionand thel'rvill lose hours produce

rvho, fi>rtheir part, rvill hirvebeen "making his-

becauseof the angrl' clemonstrators making

and knorvrngonceagain that they are not livinÉl

tory," taking pride in their strengtl-r, "like clo

ar high speed.rsif it rvereil route to someplaceelse,

in l no-placerhirrcrrnbe craversecl from a ci

bur a nremorublespot to be reckoneclwith, negotiated To trseanotl-rercliché, ible and

"vitl-r.
angrv demonstratorss'ill be proud oihaving put little
cl-reir village "on the mrp. coursetf
our srort to its end. Imagine the revolt happening:rt eachstation
Ler us pursr-re who plav

are Lrsingro get around the

along the railwav and also on each road tlr:rt the br-rses train has
blockades.\Ve wolrld then be back in the jungle rve started wirh. Each centimeter rion than

n'ould havc to be negoriated.and ir w,ould be impossiblefor an1'oneto go straight tanceof r

aheadn'ithout being deeplyand durably modihed.Each transportationwould be paid and spac
tirr with a huge rransformation,a durableand memorablen-retamorphosis.'' phenon-r

o r i g i n a l l l ' o ft h e ' " v o n r a tnr a r . e l eirn h e r j u n g l ea n d

M ) ' l i r r l e s r u r y .u ' h i c hc o n s i s t e d oplrv oi t

her male trvin in his bullet train, has been enrichedby tl.readdition of a progressive Passenge
passage fiom net-
from che triril to l high-speed railu'ay nerwork tnd t retertt'passaf{e the orher
work ro jungle rvhereever):môve has to be disctrssed
and won the hard wi1v.Thus we direct ou
now havetwo dimensronsto take into accountin discussingspaceand time construc- arrive on

cion: one thtrt definesthe ratio crftransformntionover rransportationand one chat de- and to rh

in orclerto obtain a displacement.

fines the relative t'itil,ilit.lof the work to be clc.,ne

Most c
p u z z l e :h o *
'Alchough
rnl storv is a chorrghr cxl.erimcnt. in the Am.tzon I hure secn a krrnter high*rv rlkcn over (r\f in neapoI
bv a juntle even morÉ impenetrrrble rhrn rhe origirai rrail there lndians feareclttr tread. itiqte:. voL
 lRAl\\ L)l Tll()l (,111 l--

Il tritln. This gives us the following diagram:

luce rhe

; on rhe

1e tralln
lansportation
.e ll)edi-
Transformation
-fwin
:re train in the l'GV
Making "(-onstruction
Intermediaries
, whose
'acks MaLing Twin in the
or
Mediations jungle
course,
Invisible
s'ould
No Wt'rrk
,'q'ould

become

Pùssen-
The first rwrn producesmedirtions, she seesand feelsthe rvork of transformation

me and and is unable to differentiatespaceand trme on the one h;rnd,and moving bodieson
'' rhe orher:nor doessheclifferenciate
her own sufferinÉlbody'fron-r
all rhe othersthrouglr
l i v e d"

nevent- which she is slowly drudging. The engineeris arvareoithe massof work necessitry
to

e hours smooth transit; but his energyis investedin

prodLrcecalculation,framesoi reference,

ng his- making surerhat the routine institutionson which transportationdependsare running

t living "like clockwork."The secondtwin seesno difficulty in distinguishing a moving bodv

rce else, from a circumscribedframeof refèrence,

sincethe rvork oithe othershirsbecomernvrs-

cl rché, ible and since no rransformationfbrceshim to pay for his tnnsportasjon-sxcgpl ef'

,rp. coLrrserhe price of the ticker. For him, as Forall the irngelicphilosophersoiplrysics

s c a ti o n who play the role of Queenoithe Night, "time is like nothing."-Tl-repassenger

rvlrose

rncl the trarn l-rassuddenly stopped becauseof the riot doesnot seemore of the ç'ork of media-

tlmetef tion than the Newtonian philosopher.But he feelsthe passage

of time and the inrpor-

;traight tanceof space.Aware thar something was wronÉlin his previoussenseof timclessness

be paid and spacelessness, attention on his "li"'ed" tin-reand space,as ri this

he concenrrates
subjective.N{ostof the debaresin the philos-
phenomenonwerepsychological,hr,rman,
qre ano ophl'of time, facedwitl-rour ever more complicatedsrory,u,ould opposethc rso rr.rin

;ressive on the riÉahtside of the diagram above:tl-reone lor whom there is no time,
passengers

)nt net- tl-reother who harborsa subjective feeling for time. But if rve alight from tl-retririn and
'hus
rve direct our arrenrion also to the institutions responsiblefor making sure that rr;ilns

nstruc- arriveon rime, to the revoltsen rolrtewherespaceand tinre aredeterminedon the spot,

ll2lt de- chroughs'hich thoseinstirurionsrre bLulcor thosemovementsare

and co rhe processes
' en t e n t .

-Nlost
o i t h e r v o r k o f I s a b e l i cS t r n g e r s s i r h a n d t h e n r v i t h o u t I l y a P r i g o g i n e h a s b e e n d o n e o n c h i s
''rinre
p u z z l e :h o w t o u n d e r s t a n dt l t r r f o r l . h r ' r t i s t s i s l i k c n o t i r i n g . S e el s a b e l l e S t e n g e r sP, u t r r a n l I t t ' u t ) , t u
rkcn over ( i v l i n n e r p o l i s :U n i v e r s i t l o f N I i r n c \ ( r t . iP r u s \ i()9r). and Llnttntron,/r /t nry'ttt)t1ut: putttir tt raiittt. Lorn,uft/-
i t r t l t ' l , t o l . I ( P a r i s :L a l ) é c o u v c r r . . l ' t ' t r , ,
 lrg COI{ItOÀ.'KhvoV'LIDGE

quirshed,srve should be able ro add irnotherdin-rensionto the debates.\what are rhe

Ing. s
lessonsthirt we can drirw by rhinking in rrvo dimensionsinsteadof'onei,
father
First, tlre clisrinctionbetrveensubjecriveand oblectiverime rs only piirt of rhe story.
more €
The distincrion concernsonll'rrain passenélers.
Wirh rhe norion of obiectiveor scren-
Fift
tilic rime, trvo entirell'dilferent plrenomenaare lumped togerher:rlre routinizedwork
combi
of engineersins.idelruge insticutionsis raken as though equivalentro rhe fèelingof a
Proces
"user" who, becarrse rl-reengineersare rvarchingday or nighr over his safepassage,rs
fburth
allorvedro forget the work of m,rking time. Sin-rilarly,
with rhe nocionof srrbjecrive
9r
nave Ll
"liveci" time, tlvo enrirelv different quescionsare confused:
first, the surprisefelt bl,a
pr0ces
"user" when the smooth running of time machineryis interrupced-rop
right o[ the
larer).I
diagram, trnd second,the labor of thoseengagedin processes
so litcle rourinizedrhar
accePr
the diflerencebetweensubjectivicvand objectiviry cannor even be recognized-bot-
a topos
tom left of rhe diagram. Tl-roseof us who explore the inrensicyof mulriple beings
as"his
cannotbe accountedfbr bv relying on a subjectivede{initionofan inrernalsrateofsur-
place.a
prise.
edness
Second.time is not in itself a primary phenomenon.Time passesor not depenrJing
entt ates
on the alignrttent
of other entitles.In a world made of intermediaries,of displacement
fication
rvithout transfbrmation,there is a rime separatedfrom space,an immutable frame to
S i n c ew
measufedisplacementsand, by delinition, no process.In a world made of mediations,
confrast
of transportationby deformation,rherearea lor of times and places.Deeperrhan time
transfbr
is the questionof the obedienceand disobedience
of h.mirns or nonhumans.,
.ût) to tr
Third. the notion of etr'nrcilnnot be dilferentiatedinto spatialand temporalcompo-
\)Vrir,
nents.Ifa placecountsasa no-prlace
it alsocounrsasa non-evenr.Placeis not a feature
Pégr-ryn
easierro understandthan time. \fhen a place counts as a îlpo.t.ir a.lsocounts asa kairo.r.
Whireht
Deeper than time and space there is ilnother question abeut lyho or whar collrrs.
and repe
which acranrscan interrupr, modi[', interesr,or inrerfereu,irh which others, rhus
expdilJto
prodircing as many trtpoi-traini/
is thar rl
Fourth, to ralk like rhe semioticians,there irre always,simultaneouslyat rvork in
tlme anc
eachaccount,a shifr in space,a shifr in rime, and a shifr in acror or acranr,rhe lasr of
in order
theseahvaysfcrrgottenin philosophicalor psychologicaldrscussions.
My story of che
if proces
woman rravelerin the jungle, f-orinstance,senr vou, rhe reader,along the three diifer_
my burd
ent axesat once:at anothertime, in anotherplace,but also in someoneelse'scharac-
and time
ter.r" Deeperthirn the questionof rin'reand spaceis the very acr of shifring-delegat-
not take
want to I
technolo
JircqLtesLrllivr...Ll)[tleen,tlttt(uitb1en|i.J,ii.Polittqt,tt|ttjvaa:/f'|,|1te\|il|/0n|li
(thiit tledoùtrtt. Unir.ersiré r\{onrpellier I, 199:).

'Hurllan'rnonhuman
i s a t e c h n i c a le x p r e s s i o nr h a t d o e s n o r r e p l a c es u b j e c t i o b j e c tb u r m a k e s r h e l a t t e r
, ^.\Tt:J
d o . i n o t h e r p h i l o s o p h i c a lj o b . S e em y ' a r t i c l e O n T e c h n i c a lÀ l e d i a c r o n - P h r l o s o p h y ,S o c i g l o g l .G e n e a l o g r ' , '
Lonttrt Knttr ltlgr j (Fall 1(.191);19-6 j. ( P a r i s :G a l .

l"Seuioti;i au'i Lat{rdg,: 'rNeve

An Art/1tr;,t/ L)/trti,1./r\. ed. Algirdas Julien Greinr.rs and
Joseph courrès
( B l o o m i n g t o n : I n d i a n a L l n i v e r s i r vP r e s s .I g f J l ) . doubt the c
 f R A l \ s ( , 1 -T H ( ) l ( , H T l-,

: are the ing, sending away,translating.We shor-rldnot speakof time, space,and actant but
rarher of temporalization,spatialization,acrantialization(the words are horrible) or,
he story. more elegantly,of tiuin.q.tpaJtt. rLtutl.
)r sclen- Fifrh, and linally, the question of spacing,riming, and acting should always be
ed work combined with that of their )nter.rit1.
\7hat has occurred-an event or a non-event/
ling of a with time more than witl-rspace.Processis not the
Processis not in itself associated
fourth dimension,but tffth.Thu is well known, as far as time is concerned,sincewe
rctlveor have used (at leastsince Husserl)the notion of "historicity" in order to diffèrentiate
[elt by a processfrom the "simple" pâssage6i lirns-n5 measuredby tl-rervatcl-r(more on tl-ris
rt of tl-re later). But the sameshould be true f-orspace,tl-roughthere is no spatial term as u'idely
zed that acceptedas "historicity" is for time. To differentiatethe intensity ofbeing in a space,
l-bor- from simply being located on a map, we would need a term as clear-cut
a topos-kairos.
'beings "historiciry."\When, as in my narrativeof the twins, a no-placebecomesa master
as
e of sur- place,a chef-liet.a tapl.t.we should be able to say thtrt it gains "sp/citcity" or "situ.rt-
edness.""The samegoesForthe shift in actantiality. We should havea word that differ-
rending entiatesthe move from one actant to another-extensive repetiti6n-f166 the modi-
LCement licarionof all the actants-intensrve repetition.Unfortunately,there is no such term.
iame to Sincewe do not l-ravethe requisitetriad of concepts,I have chosento use the simple
liations, contrast betweentrail making and network lollowing, between transportartion
rrll/:
an tlme transformation and transformation uit/tL,//tdeformation, zrndam usins the word inlen-
: l / _ ;r o t r a c et h i s f i f i h d i m c n s i t , n .
compo- $Triters like Bergson with his distinction between spatializationand duration,
leature Péguy witl-rl-riscontrastbetrveentl-rehistory of historiansand the I-ristoryof events,'l
a,katros. Whitehead rvith his insistenceon process,Deleuzewith his early work on difference
counts. and reperition,were obsessed
b1'the questionofthe intensity oftime asopposedto its
rs, thus The diflculty in using therr insights to tracethe fifth dimensionof process
expansion.
is that they were engagedin a battle with what they strwas ir scientillcdelinition of
vork in trme and space.The difficulty alsocomesfrom their r-rnfàirlyfavoring time over spirce
: last of in order to avoid r','hattl-reysaw as the inherent spatializationproducedby science,rs
'' oi the if processwere in any way more easily connected witl-r time than witl-r space.So tl-rat
: cliffer- my burden now is to shift attention to the labor that goesinto the labricationofspaces
charac- and rimes-we areshifting fiom right to left in the diagram above-in order that rve
Ielegat- not take scientificpracticeregardingspaceand time as objectivetime anclspace;I also
wanr ro redressthe imbalancebetweenspacetrnd time by using rvork recentlydone in
technologystudies.

:ne latter
" .\l!,liarct has been proposed by Âugusrrn Berque, Dz Xertr) /d L)ti: f nua urbtiwi û litr turit/ tr Jtpun
nealogr',' ( P a r i s :G a l l i m a r d . I 9 9 . 1 ) .

rNever translatecl inro English. Charles Pégrrl is probably rhe grearest French prose rvriter and no
Courtès 'C/ia:
doubt the deepest pliilosopher oi rimc. Seeespecialiv litlugrt Je l ltitoire tt ù / )rrt pdiettt." in Ottrrtl
e t l t r o s e l.( ) 0 c ) - l t ) 1 l ( P a r i s :Gallimard, l96l).
 I80 ( _ ( ) I f\ 1 ( ) N K N O \ r ' t . E I ) ( ; I

also a (
PnocnssrNc Trun nso Spacs
never (

from "
If I have taken the caseof a train for my paradoxof the twin travelers,it is not only
reach
I am ir firn of the TGV rrntla rrear admirer of rhe "RatrscheBahn" leading ro
beciruse
back ut
tl-reNietzscheanvalley of the Upper Engadine,but also becauseI wish to honor that
that lar
most fàmousS*'issengineerlion'r Zurich, Albert Einstein.obsessed
by bullers,crains.
ron dlf
and clocks. \fhat I irm going ro aréIueshould be obvious ro La Chaux de Fond
it. It ir
clockmakers.to Genevirtririn c(,mf.lny mrnirgcrs.ro Zurich barnkers:
the fabrication
StOpS;1
ofa certain type ofsprce-time-actorcrtrciallydependson our abilicy to measureinrer-
then ca
vals bv relying on bodiesthat havetl-restrangepeculiaritl'of remaining 6xed throuch
the irrr
morion: plilners,fâlline stones,pendr-rlr-rms,
bullers,sclles,geometricalshapes,arndof
able to
coursetrains,cars.satellites,bank accounts.As many scholarshzrvemade clear,''there
of spac
is in or-trcivilizarionir hxationon horv best ro tr,rnsporrsomeçhingivithorrtdeforming
deduce
it, an infirtttationwith what I havecallecl"immutable mobiles."To rhe searchfor con-
longer .
stants(that is. fbr what cirnbe carrreclrlroundanrl resistsdelcrrmationin spireof trans-
fbr tim,
portation), anvtl-ringwill be sacrificed-even, as in thc c:rseoi Einsteins relativicy
theorr',tl-reverv deflnition of Euclidian spaceand clockwork rime. Piaget of course Thu
and spil
sl-rares
this obsession,co the poinr of having tr,rrnedrhe abiLrtyro consen,econsranrs
displacr
rhrough transportirtioninro the very clefinitionof intellisence(anclinto rhe best wav
the rrar
t o c l i s c i n g u i s iht s s u c c e s s i vset a é l e s ) . r ' Aw
s e n , i l l s e e ,r n v r h i n é {w i l l b e s a c r i l l c e d
by
time, tl
him, reallv ertr.lTlting.
ro this conservarionof constirnts.
aFterth,
Insteadoi cakingclisplacenrent
rvithout defbrmationas an obvious fèatureoi rvhat
"Castle:
the q'orld is like, as so many philosophersof time and rrain passengers
tend to do. I
changec
simply rvanr now to Lrseche rich literarLrre
on rhe tirbricarionof rime and spaceto lree
changes
the fifth dimensionof time from both its subjectiveand objectiveinterpretations.How
too wol
is rlre discussit)nchanged when the wr>rknecessiiryro consrrucrscientificfacrsand
another
technicalartefàctsis again becomrngvisible:'The first thing ro do is ro elevarespacrng
as lts en
t o t l r e s a m ep h i l o s o p h i c adl i g n i t v a s r i n - r i n s .
as a ver\
F.rr from being obviorrscommonsenseterms, "spacing" and timing are in fàcr
The
qLrte difhcult to tell apart.Through what sort oilabor clorve prodtrcethe distincrion
ago, \vil
betç,eenspaceand time?The quesrion is not irs rrivial as it seems.For insrance,rhe
mound
legendarywanderingJew cannotdistinguish the rwo, everyspot nlong his wav being
of millir

ments o

ii place,
A n t o n ! n t . t n v o c h e r s .I t i r u n c lp . r r c r c u l a r i lr' e l e v l n t ( l e r , t i r c l B o s ' k e r . S e c o n . iN a t u r c O n c e R e n r t r v e d :
-l'inrc. 'l
Sfacc. .rnd Rcl.resenrrriols. ttt ttJ S,utt1 i. I ( I 995 r: i--66: Davicl S. Landes. Rrt,,lttirn rn I tue: varlous :
C h c k r . r r , / t h t , \ l , r L i r g , t tl / t , , \ 1 , " / r v 1
\ l1i r - l r / ( ( . a m b r i i l c e :I l a n a r r l l , n i v e r s i r v P r e s s .l g l l l ) ; O t t o \ [ n t r , A t t l . n t i t 1 ,
I ) h n t . r r J A t r , t t i , r i i ; , \ l t , l : t n r t j t F , , t r l t. \ 1 , u l t n [rr r r r , p r( B r l r i n r o r e :J c , l r nH o p k i n s L ] n i v e r s i r t P r e s s ,l g l l ( r ) : in place
DanielR.HceJrrck.-[/ltT,tt,lLr,l1Pr''.ittll:7illll,lt''çTunl1tltlr/l,\(4|lt1lerllltiu
( J x t o r d L i n i v e r s r r vP r e s s ,I 9 f l f l ) ; S i m o n S c h a t i è r . B a b b a g es I n t e l l i g e n c e :C a l c u l a t r n c E n g i n e sa n d r h e F a c - of rhe g,
'[l:L
t o r v S v s t c m . ( r t t u , r l I r q t t r l l 1 ( F a l l l ! ) c ) . i ) :l { ) l - l - l \ \ t , 1 f u a n g S c h i v c l b u s c h . Railutt -lunn1: Tbt
l / r / x t ! r . , . / / t . , t l | , t lt / T t t t . t t , / 5 p , t i , t l t / + l I ) l i , C t t t t r . l t B e r k c l e r : L , n i r c r s i r t o i C . r l i f i r r n i a P r c s s .l t ) 8 6 ) ; E r i ; r a r
Z e r u b r r e l . ' l l : ' S , t t r L ) a 1( r r l t : ' [ l t H i , t , t t t n l . \ l t t t ) t g q t l t \ \ ? t L ( L o n r l o nC : o l l i c r N { a c m i l L a n1,9 8 5 ) . rSee
r

' . l r a n P i r g e r r n d R o l r r n r l o( l a r c i r . P , r r ô , , ( r a . ' . l t ) t n i r , . i , ' Bcrg, ilfic

tt ù / r / / ! ! J( P r r i s : F l a m n r r r i o n , l 9 8 j ) .
 T R A I N0s F T I t O I i ( ; [ { TI S I

alsoa date.Sincehe neverrÉtrilcrshis step. neverstaÏs in the sirmePlace.neversettles,

nevercomesback, tl'rereis no nreaningfirr l-un-r
in rlte notion oi"place" difÈrentrable
from "date"-except, of course,in the caseof the City of Jertrsalem,rvhich lie will
ror only
reach "next vear."His itinerirn- is n-radcoi "dare-places."
It is only becanse\\'e conre
ding to
backto the same lrlaceover llnd over th.lt we generlrtethe noticlrrof a plzrce,of ,\ t0J)0s.
ror that
that lastsand staysthe same,rvl-rilewe havemoved.Tl-resizeoithe castleof Chrtelpcr-
. trillns!
ron diminishesirreversiblvin the clistanceirsthe wan!ieringtrirvelermovesarval'from
e Fond
it. Ir is thus as much part oi time as the hour spenc,'valkrngbv. Only ii the walker
llciltlon

his stepsdoestl-recasrlesizereverseitselfand grow again,and only

srops;1ndreverses
e lntef-
then cirntlre vol':rgerconcludethat this i-sa placeratberth:rn a d:rte.It is rn conrparrng
hrough
the irreversibiliry'ofhis aging body rvit[r the reversibilityof tl'recastle'ssizethat he is
, and oF
' ' there able to make senseof the expression"spaceand time." F'ollowinsthe usual dehnition
o f s p r r c ea s t h e " s e r i e so f c o e x i s t e n c e sa"n r l o i t i m e a s r h e " - ç e r i eosf s u c c e s s r o n s , ' h e
:)rmln{
-or deduces:"l have changedand tl"recastlehas not; thus there is a space,a somen'hat
ccln-
insicleof which I move and Lrse"-spaceoffering the measure
Iongerlastinglandscape,
f trans-
l i r r r i m e . e n d r i m e t h e m c i r s t l r l(u r s p : t ct .
latrvi rv
Thus, we cannot say that the casrle is "in" space since we claim rhat times
course
by a type of work, anclby tl-re
and spirces-right side o[the diagram-are é{enerirted
n s r a nt s
oi kinds of bodies,rhar rend to rem:iin invrsible. \{'e should sa} thar
displzrcemenr
rst way
the traveler'sdisplacement,by his returning, lus ptrt the castleinto spaceinsteadof
ced by
time, tl-ratthis move has,so to speak,"spaced"it. But rvl-rydoesthe czrstleexist intlct
after rire rravelerirasdescendedthe rrount/ Cerrainlv chis roo has co be irccountcdfor.
rf rvhat
"CasrLesin Spain," "c21stles
in the arr," would not harvethis ability. If everythinÉl
odo,I
changed at the silme teiltl)ous the trirveler, he rvoLrld never be able to meeisurethc
to free
changesin shape,even 1f he could rccrrrcchis steps:he rvould haveageci,brrt the cirstle
;. Horv
too would be so drfferent that he could nevcr be sure tl-ratit s,asnot anothercastle.
ts and
anotherdate-place.Even Heraclituss proverbialriver doesnot filowat the s.imespeed
pacing
as its embankmenr.\Wenow encounrerrhe importanceoitecirniqrrestli:rt I rvill de6ne
as a verv peculiar way of Ji/diug times and actantsoidifferent qtralitiesand tcmpos.r'
in fact
The castleof Chatelperron,acrossthe fbot oi wlrich the travelerpassedrrvo hours
nctron
aÉjo.was renovrrredfbur t'eirrsbef-ore.was built eight cenruriesearlier on an earth
te, rhe
mound elevatedtwo hundred yearspreviousto that, rvith stonesÉIenerated
l-rundreds
being
of millions of 1'earsin the past-leaving lside momentarih'the qr-restion
of mcasLrre-
menrson thesedrfferenttimescales.In orher worcls,rvhatmakesthe rravelerencounter
a place,a topat,is the conneccionof trctionstirking place in varioussitesand times bt.
ntrived:
variousacranrs.The hard labor offeudal villeins hervint huge sronesand purting tl-rem

I !)fl6); in placeis presenctoday,as much as rhe Laboroithc ancientseasand telluric.rctivirics

.)xfbrcl:
of the geological past, and lrs mlrch as the more recent rvork by tl-recourageollsowner
he Fac-
'f/:a
1t\:

L-ri.rcrr
i) 'Sre
mr" On lrchnical Nletli.rcion(n. 9 aborc). and On Inrerobjectivirr. rvith cliscussron bv NIarL
t s e r g ,M i c h a e l L 1 n c h , r n c l Y r j o E n g t l s r r i i r r . \[)il. Ctltrr'. ,trJ .\irit itt ]. i (l !)t)(i): ll8- ii.
 ItJ] C-OMN'ON
KNO\X,'LEDGF,

wl-rolixed the roof and consolidatedshgwxl[5-n1)r ro menrion the Neanderrhalcave-

rt ls the
men who placedCharelperronon rhe paleonrologists'menrerlmap. Far from being a
that we
point in an isotropicspace,rhe "sp/cilic," situated" site met by the travelerwho re-
We
rurns becomesLt.zttnét'tiail
of inrerircrionsdispersedin tinre. space,and acrion, and various
reassembled,
kept up, insrituted in an event-producing/rpr.r.Becauseof the ancient, to fecor
enormous,and continltousmassof work connectingvsri()usinccracrions
over ages,rhe ogy sru
castlestill holds, ntakesspace,makes historv, breakstl'reconrinLriryof vision, bends by any 1
attention, interruptsthe travelsofvoyagers,createshierarchies,and thus the wanderer
duratior
at rts foor righrly leelsthar it differs fiom hrs own fasr-agingllesh.He passes,
and rhe rneanin
castledoes not. The castlel-roldsits ground, occrrpresspace,crearesa landscape,be- are the (
comes a thef-/iett,rvhateverthe proper expression.nor becauseit is a spot "in space, an(l éleo
but becalrseit is itself the event connecringrnteracrionson ir large spreadof space-
nareus,s
time-actants.Here history was locallv made and rradirions kept the casrleconrinLl- hisroryc
o u s l ) i n p l a c e .H e n c e ,r h e r ei s , z p l a c e . idea oi a
Ir might seemstrangeto deÊnetechniclues
as what connecrsinteractionsfrom dif- museum
ferenctirr-res,
places,and actirncs,but it is necessary
when rve!rrtendro delegzrcion
and l-risvain r
shifting. Tâke the very simple example of a mousetrap I set r,rpro deal rvitl-rthe many spatializ
mice that Livein my houseat chefoot of Chatelperron.It took ren minutes fbr Korcan
screntrs
rvorkersto make tltem lirst year in rheir sweatshops,
a nrlnute for the imporriexporr of the ab
trade companyto order them by fax, rhree monrhs ro carry rhem in a containeracross
Of th
rhe EirstAsian trade routes.Ic took me a lew minutes and a ferv fiancsro bu1'clremac this conr
the local hardwareshop lasr week;I am presenrlyl)urring Swisscheeseon rhe nail and,
Jules Mar
cautiousl\',setring the spring, making sure ir is not m) {inger rhat gets snappedby to visual
the minirrtureguillotine. . . . Tonrght. the kinetic energyof tl-respring ser in placebv therebv r
my action will be unleashedin my absenceassoonasa mousestarrssnifhng the cheese. nrc/.t as s
Hon'many ilcrorsare presenr3s 6n6s7-Ksrean vorkers, French traders,wood from eirher,*,1
the mounrain, cheesefrom the AIps, my acion of vesterdaydelegatedro the spring of how com
this oldestof techniqr-res,
the trap. NforeprimrtiveJmore basictl-rana poinr in .rn isorop- rnteractii
ic space is this subtle weaving rogerher of interactions ùmong many plnçes. right arva
times, and types of marerial: tl-reweek-old n-rousebody, rhe month-old cl-reese,
rhe age- see,to tnr
old trap, rhe five-t,ear-old
wood, the night-old action ofrhe exâsperated
kitchen owner, the succe
all of tlrem contnbuting to rhis very humble ropos-kairos.
ro an evenr-producirrgspor- plate is n<
ancl rc is certarnly an evenr for the mouse who will meet ics deach,I am hopeful, durirtion-
ronishr.
\ù(/eneverencountertime and space,buc rather a mulriplicity of interactionswith

actantsthat have their orvn riming, spacing,soals, means,and ends.Nothing in rhe " lrlarra
I 991 ): Franr
mind, nothing, but a lot in the know-horv of those who, by clever technicalacrion,
'-For
can weave togerher rypes of acranrschat rvere immiscible tr momenr befclre.Whar enr
Life Sttertce
could be f,rrtherapart than Korean sweatshopsand SwisscheeseiYet theseare now Reptueutttiat
) ! - 6 8 : s e e. r
connectedby the shorrcutoia mouserrap.Long beforeç,e can ralk of spaceand time, i (Spring l!
 O FT H O T J G I I l l- J J ]
TRÂINS

ral cave- it is thesesortsofconnectrons,short circurts.rranslations,ilssociarions,

and mediations
being a that rve encounrer,darily.
rvho re- \ùfleregisterthesemany diflèrencesin timing and relative resistancerhrough che
on, and variousrnstrumentsirrventedby scientilicdisciplines(in tl-relargesrsenseof rhe word)
lncient, to recordand document them, and it is at this poinr that we musr shift from technol-
ogy studiesro sciencestudies.In what ma1'be the mosr unfârraccolrrto[sciencegiven
r, bends by any pl"rilosopher,
Bergsoncriticized scientistsfor being unable ro pay arrenrion ro
anderer duration, ro "la,,/nrée,"because,according to him, scientisrsalways rurned it into
andthe meaninglessând timelessspâtial delineations.An extravagernt
claim, since sclenrlsrs
Lpe,be- are the oneswho made it possible to speak of the "longtudttée." of rhe eons of biology
space, and geologyout of which Bergsoncould make his "creativeevolution."rù7itl'rout
Lin-
i space- naeus,without Cuvier, rvithout Lamarck, rvithout Daru'in, rhere wor.rldbe no long
snCinu- history of lifè fbr Bergsonto pit againstthe obsession
fbr geometryand space.Tl-revery
ideaof an evolution unfolding over billions of yearsemergesout of the narlrralhisrory
rm dif- museumsand the collectionsof geologists.What Bergsonpurs asideu,hen he poses
ion and his vain opposrrionbetweenthe warm and rich durarionoftime and rhe poor and cold
e many spatializationoi mind is the work of regisceringdifferences,tire work of the clever
Korean scientists,anotherlabor that philosophershaveignoredas much as rhe)'haverhe work
/ export oi rl-reableengineers.
: across O[ the instrumentsoverlookedby pliilosophers,perhapsrhe mosr interesnng in
hem at this context,becauseit is a trap for time, nor mice, is the lrhotographicgun of Erienne-
ril and,
Jules Marey,a conremporaryof Bergsonand Einstein.N{areyinvenredhis gun in order
n e ,. l. "h 'j
r_ to visualizethe precisemorions of doves in flight. He was cerrainl\,'nor arrcnrFrrng
lace by thereby to "geometrize' the passageof tin-re;he rvasattempnng to produce rlme .zJ
:heese. nttL'/:as space.r('lvlore exactly, liis labors produced something enrrrely-differenr from
I from eitlrer, n'lrich \\'e nray call s1noptirit.1.
In rhe same wâ\r as attenr'on ro rechnicitl knorv-
how completely'subvertsthe defining oi a cime and space,since it wreakshavoc on
sotop- inreractionsby creating events and topoi,attemron ro s\rnoprlciry,ro rr'hat can be seen
rr.laces, right arvayby a scientist,completelyredistributesthe ability of scienriststo know, to
reage- see,to imagine. co think an)'thinÉlat all.'- \What is important abor.rrNÎareylookinc at
)wnef, images (of the dove in flight) impressedon rhe circular silver-coated
the successive
Por- plate is not, in spite of Bergsonscondemnatron,that he has lost thepn.t.trge
oitime, of
pefirl, dulssiqn-j6 is preciseiy'colose it thar he secour to invent his pliocographicgr-rn.

; with
in the NIarta Brrrur. Pi,trriu.q.'l'in,: Tl,, \\i,rk al Errnnt--ft/,i ,\lattt (C-hrcaro: Universirr ol Chicaqo Prt-ss.
l')')l)r François D.ruoilnct. Ett,rtt,--Jrlt' ,\[are1:,\ Ptiri,tulît the 7i:ai (Crmbridge: Zonc Brroks, 199]).
ction,
'-Forentrlintorrhrtisnosrhugcliteraturt',see-[/teRigbt'fat/:lott/:e-ltl: At\litliil'fuettie!b-Cuttrl
$7hat
I . i J t S c r n c e :e. d . A d è i e C i , i r k c . r n . l. l o . r n H . I r u j i m u r a ( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e r o n L n i v e r s i t r P r e s s , l 9 9 l ) , a r r d
r now R4)E.\tilt,tîili iil S.LilttliL Pr./,,/,',i e(l Ifrchael L1'nch and Sreve \X/ooigar (Cambridge: ÀIIT Press, 199()),
l 9 ( r 8 : s e ea l s o m t a r t t r l r . T h . P t t l , , É l t ' i B o a V i s t a ; A P h o t o - P h i l o s o p h i c r rNJ{ o n t a g e , L o u n n K u t t / t , / r r
cime, I ( S p r r n g1 9 9 > ) :l + 1 8 - .
 l8 { C-OII\tON Kr-O\\'LEDGE

Marey n,irsurterly fèd up with dtrrée.with invisible, obscure.and Lrncontrollable

pat- sfance
terns of fiight thar are not seizable,fixable,catcl.rable.rs
The {1yingdove did not live tranSp
"in cin.re"betbrebeing killed bv a gun "in space."The photographic
éjundoesnot kill, neers (
and rvl-ratwas important for Marey is that the eventsin the sky can now recur,hundreds s c l e nt l
oitimes at rvill in the Stationp/.ttsia/rtgiqru
of rhe Collège de France.Marey is not reduc- the idr
ing tlre lived and rich drrie of tl-redove for a poor and cold éIeomerry.On the contrary, But
he is adling to the fligirr o[ the dove, adding somerhing never experiencedon earrh where/
betbre,the enraptsling contemplationof the dove'ssuccessive motions transformed, discipl
'
on the plete,into coexistingshapes.He hasnor "degraded time into sp'.rce,
as Heideg- all verl
ger rvould say; the leap is much more innovativeand daring than that: the lleeting tried rv
secondsof the clove's11ighchavebeentransforn-red
into a permanentsilver photograph vearr-ol
that can be conten-rplated
for hours or quickly scannedby scientistsagain and again, of beak
in searchofstruccural fèrturesthat will explain rhe muscles'positionand the energl' tOrS iln(
baltrnce. caseof
For someoneç'tio observesscicntistsor engineersat work, there is not merely one cert i fic,
time and space.The phenomenaobservedare much more surprising;they relv on tl-re rvoulcl I
subversion,disjLrnction,displacement,rescaling,crossing-overof relations betweelr bodies i
spatial, actorial, and temporal features.'"Sciencedoes not withdraw time from the t/teutilt,
world, it adds many spacesand times to the n'orld by constanclymodifying scales, laboratc
Iensths,and unirs in thosestrangesites,the laboratory,the institure, and the archive, The
wl-richare utterly different from "a mind." rrme, as

for a rime-spacefrlme "in rvhich"

If this is the case.then, where doesthe obsession tional s1
encitieswould reside,or a frame chat the.minclrvould "impose on" thinÉJsin order to an isoch
apprehendthem, come fron-riNo amoLlntof labor will everproducethat sort oispace rOny i1n
and time-not the work of engineersor scientists,nor eventhat of our anecdotaltrail- circulati
to oppose,as i.sso ofrendone,the "lived u'orld" of human subjectiv-
blazer.Ir is useless high-spt
it,v apprehendingspaceand time and all rhe rich colors of intentions and affe.ctivity listic mi
u,ith. on the orher hand, rhe scientificand technicalobjecriveworld ceaselessly
curting irnd stru
a meaninglessspace-timeinto rsoropicand isocl-rronic
units. The scientificand engi- very cle'
ncering practice oi subverting spacesirnd times chror-rghmaps, charts,digs, traps. I nner \\,(
trjcks, and knacksexceedsb,vfar any subjectivetime and spacedescribedby phenome- events b
nologiscs.The strbjecrivirvof spaceand rime is not '*'har is lefr wl-rentl-reobjective rs a cruci
space-timehas been thoroughly described.It is only in some very peculiar circum-

.,,Phi1
tilt. fr)stt
' T h i s i s w h v , b v r h e r v a v ,h t c l i d n o t c ( ) m et o i n v e n t t h e m o v i e c a r n e r aw
; h a t N l a r e y ' u , r n t e dr . r s t o r n r c n c overneat rl
the rzlr-mor ie camerâ-an instrument firr rurning movemenr inro a succession o f i m a g e ss 1 - n o p t i c a l l ya.n d controversi
n o r s u c c e s s i v c l tv' .i s i b l c . righr of rh,

' " i \ l i c h a e l L v n c h , S c i e n c ei n r h e A g e l e p r o d u c t i o n :N I o r a l a n d E p i s t e m i c R e l a r i o n sB r -
o f N { e c h a n i c aR LOn
rrvcrn l)iagranrs:rnd Phorographs, Biolog.taad Phrl,trlb 6(ApriI l99t ); 105-16. For a much more compli- o i e x p c r im ,
a r r r d s c i e n c r f i c a s e ,s c e n d r c r v P r c k e r i n g: b e a u r i t i r lm e d i r a t i o n o n r v h a rs o r r o f s c i e n c r i i cF r a c r r ! c r s n e c c s - wotk ot Al
'[fu (Chicago: L]niversit]
sary l;tJortphenonrena begin to appear: ,\lttgle oJPractitt: T)nt. Agerc1.tnd Sctenct Lang. l 9r9
o l C h j c r . s oP r e s s ,I 9 9 j ) .
 S FT H O I ' ( ; I I 1 -] 8 5
TRÂINO

rble pat- that the two can be diiterentiated.Only cheman in tlle TGV can distinguish
st:1nces
q'ith iler lx, not thc tnlll-
not live rr;rnsporrand rransfbrmarion.nor hrs sisrer opening tl-retrail
nor kill, neersof the train compâniesmirking sure rrains do not run out of synch,]" not the
rr,rndreds scienristswùtchingotverthe coorclination<lfatomic clocks,and not il{itreytrembLingat
rt reduc- rhe idea tl-rarhis phorographicgun nright give fuzzy,blurred, or overlappincimages
:ontrary, But surel\'.space-time,or'rrimaginrrt' fiame itlr 'tll evcnrs,has tc' come from some-
on earth n,here/Irs origin seemsro be in tl-repecrrliarnatureoithe uhjects usedin tl-rescientrllc
\ùThitehead
once clurppedthat it is
;formed, disciplinesto builcl rheir mcùsLtrill$in:rfunlcnrs.
Heideg- a l l v e r y F , e l lt o p r a r s eG a l i l e of b r h i s s r u d y o i t h e i n c l i n e dp l a n e ,b r . r tw h a t i i h e h a d
fleeting tried rvitl-rbagsoiwheat inste,rdof spl-rerical billiard balls/ Trv to distinguisha seven-
"nor.rconservingchildren rvho usecelabashes
instetrd
'tograph vear-old"conserving ctiild fiom
d again, oi beakers.the latter of coursecontrolledby merrologyand st:rndardization-rnsPeL-
: enerSy tors ancl lnsrrumentsand institutional bodiesare necess.rrv here,.rs mllch ds in the
"uir to stùndard"anclto coordinateacrion and
caseofrrains and clocks,to hold then-r
rely one certification.rlStill, in Africa. away from their laboratories,mosr Piagetrirntesters
y'on the \r,ould probirbly cluality as "nonconser.,ing":thcre is an rnordinatenumbef oi rigid
)etween bocliesin the paraphernalra of laboratories,but rhat doesnot mean that scirntists.rrc
'om the thcn:e/*.çrigid bodiesor have rigid teon-retricaln-rinds.It simply meansth21t,in the

I scales, laboratory,in order to detect .lifferences,tl-reyuse bencl-rn-rarks

lrchive, a speciirctype of splrce-
Tl"recircrrlarionoi rhoserigid bodieswill loc.rtlyéaenerùte
rime, asthe circulationof ant other bocll'with diilerent proPertieswill generateaddi-
which" tional spaces-times-actants. This doesnot mean thtrt rve a'rein tn isotopicspJcerllld

rrder to irn isochronicrime, bur tl-rlt locally,ir.çr,/rmetrologicalchains,there rrreelfrcrioiisoch-

rf space rony and isoropy produced by the carcfirlly monitored and l-reavilyinstittrtionalized
ll triril- tl-rroughtransporcrrion:
circllarion of objeccschat remain relarively Lrntrirnsformed
),ecilv- trains,rulers,standards,callnons.rveights,constantrelrtions,bLrllets,burl-
higl"r-spee,J
rctlvrty and variousother rods' handsofclocks, gears'
lisric missiles,fàlling stones,2ICCounts,
rutt,nÉl and structUralison-rorphies.None of tllat instltmentirti6n-lhough verl' precrlc'rl'

1 engi- ver)'clever.very material, verv local-at any point saysanything about the mind's
traps, i n n e r r v o r k i n g s ,n o r . l o e s i t e x p l a i n t h e w t I V SL l 1 ' s ' h r c l rn ( ) - p l J L cb c c o m c se v e n t o r
:nome- eventsbecomenon-event.The buitcling of metrologic,rlnetworks for spaceand time
is a crucial fètrLlreof \ù/esternhrstory.Ir hasto be docr-rmented, stucliedand
to be sr,rre,

ircum-

. , , p h i l o s o p h lb e i n g a n e m p i r i r l l s c i e n c r .I h a d r h e l r r c k . c t , m i n g b a c k i r o m N c u L h â t e l J l t c r I l r v r n g n r v
c o u n t c l l ) â r i si r n ( l t o
r a l k . t o s i t . . r , , a , t h . a , S r v i s sr i r i l * a v e n g i n c e r sg o i n g t o P l r i s t o n l e t ' t t ] r c i r F r e t t c h
price tags rtlcl tethniial
:l lnvent o r . e r h e a rt h e i r c o n v e r s a r i o n sI.n c h r r g e o f b u V i n { c a r r i a g e s .r h e t \ , e r e h e a p i n g
a 'rr thc r"p
L I l r 'a. n c l c o n r r o r . e r s i eosn r o e a c h o i t h e t y p r s o t m o v i n g r n e t e r i a lN c c n ù ) u n ( t r t d . A l r l r o u g h P i s s e n s e r
r i , q h t o f t h c d t e g r : r m .I n l o v c c l ,b l l r s t c r l i n g .c l ( ) s c rt o r h c t o l ) l c t t '

r , C o n s c n . i n g a n c l n o n c o n s e n i n g i r r e r e ( b n i ( . r i t e r m s i n P i a g e t i r n P s l c h o l o g v t o d e s c r i b ct h e r c s u l (
ons Be-
( o n s t r t t s t h r o u g h t r a n s f i r r n l . t t i o n sS t e r h t ' t i a s s i '
: o m 1 .I i - o i e x p e r i m e n c sg , 6 e nc h i l d r c n a r e r b l . o r n o r r b l t t o g r a s p
(Bertle:Prtcr
s teces- ,urr(ufÀ,.n"-Nelll Perrer-(-lernront,1,,7Crtitù/.rnuJ,Irttr//igrtu,it)tif/ilttr,ltltt', iarl.r/,
i\.ersrtl L a n g , 1 g l 9 ) . ( J n r r a n s c u l r u r acl l e c o t s r r u c r i o n ofPirrgetianrhcorr.sceJtanLave,C,,!titt,tninPr,trit:\ljt,i
l98lJ)
. \ I a i l r y t u t i c t . a i l ( . r l t w t r n E t r l J t l I - r l i i C a m b r r . l g e ;C a m b r i c l g eL , n j ' c r s i t v P r e s s .
I 8 6 C ' ) N T I f OKNN O \ \ ' I - E D G E

respected,but it does not havc-to be confusedwith an accollnt of how our mind worlds

evolved,or rvitl-rrhe understandrngthat other civilizatronsma.vhaveof time, or rvith of time

the ontoLogyo[rvorld making.

I am rvell awarethat s'e havereachedthe turning point, or perhapsit is rhe break-
ing point, of rhis lrne of argument.Sincean inreresrin the shift in times and spaces
practicedby technicalmeansirnd scientihclirboratories,
and the irttencionpaid to in- Whar I

strlrmentsand their making insteadof to their results,cannorbe juscifiedby demon- tory slt

stration. we have ir choice to merkebetween philosophies.The first would consider hovr'thi

spaceand cime in their rsocopicand isocl'rronicnarLlreas being rvhat the Lrnrverse

ls pliicem

made of or, alternarively,rvhat rl-remincl needsro imposeon rhe Llniversein order to tl-refirs

make senseof it. Moreover,asan afterthoughr,this lirst posirionmighr savefor hLrmirn embank

subjectivitysomeother sort of'relacionsrhet rvould expllin how ç,e reiateemotionally slhole r

to eventsand orient ourselvesconcretelyin space,but all of this subjecrrvirywould there ca

be r.inderstood
in conrrastro obiectivespace-time.Affectivity and effectivitywould be aging, a

cieariv contrascecl.
C)nly the ri.tht side of our diirgràm would be considered.and the buildin

left srdetaken as a purelv instrumentalaspectofno phrlosophicalconsequence

fbr the relarion

elaborationeither ofthe world or of the mind. milestor

A secondsolLirions'ould be co scartfrom a phenomenonth21ris not in irself con- This wil

nected wrrh either subjectivitl' or obyectivity,one thar ignores the quarrei between nor hap

space-time LrsJeillan//t)lor as mind-set and tl"ratbegins rvirh the rttharentiriesrhar are conditio

meintaining r-rsin existence.Ir is this qualiry of orhernessand rhe "nunr-

necessart'tbr rest/t of t

ber" oiothers thar are, in tl-rissecondphilosoph,v,

rhe crucralfèatures;and its cenrral maI catse

problenr is that of knorving rf a transport,a displacement,a trernslation,

a trajecron'is bureaus ,
"paid frrr" b1'a small or a larse delbrmation,transformirrit'rn,
meramorphosis. attendan

The major diffèrencebetweenthesetwo philosophiesis that the normal caseof the rsochron

hrst is the rare exceptionof tl-resecond.Thar a mobile travelswjthout mutaring is so danger ol

fare. so miraculous,so expensivea phenomenon,it has to be explainedin detail. And is a profe

indeed.co explain the man in ttie TGV who doesnor age more than three hoursgorng Scien
irom Pirris to Neuchâtel. one rvould have to take into accoLlntseveralhuge bureaucra- formalisn

cies,enormousnetrvorks,n-ranyclocks, llags, siens. ancistandards,a lot of eiectricirl coordina

plants, labor relations,and so on. Similarlt'.to accounrfor Einstein'stravelsç'ichout nared,str

deformationat the speedof light, in spite of rhe acceleratron

of liames of reference, efficiency

one rvould have ro count the whole establishmentof phvsics,huge laboratories,most the same

of asrronomy,anclquite a fèrvcririnsand embankmentsoithe Swissrailwayauthoricies. railway c,

In this secondsort of rvorld, the measurementof times and spacesruaÉr.r

spacesand smoothly

rimes, rvhereasin tl-relirst, rhe instrument plirl'sno role orher than thirt of a practical srranget(

meansto reachspirceand trn-re,which themselvesexist independenrly,whetherobjec- rhe work

tively or subjectivelr'.
In tl-resecondsort of rvorld, instrumentsare mediatorsand sl-rift- The uneq

ers; in the hrst, simple meansand intermedianes(thev could, in tl'reon'.be discarded). ofany con

The role of the mintl, oFethics.politics,and relision, is entirely drfferentin thesenvo lesslydev
 TRAINS OF THOUGHT I8-

rr mind worlds, and chat differences,ill be my concluding fbcus.\X/hy is the hfch drmensron

or wirh so difficult to rr'gisrer:

o[ cime-space

e break- Fonualrsn: A Pnopr,ssroNAt- HAZARD

J spaces
\ù7hathappensif, insteadofattending to instruments(circulatingrigid bodies,labora-
d to in-
<lemon- of scale,institutions in chargeof time and standards,and the know-
tory sites,cl-ranges

onsider lrow thar goesinto experimentaltrials) we attend onlv-to the resultsof a smootlrdis-

verseis placementi'To continue with my favorite example,what lrappenswhen the man in

rrder to the first-classcompartment of the TGV ignores not only the lamous "man on the

hr:man embankment" but alsothe inhabirantsof the string of aligned stationsand cities,tl-re

:ionally whole machinerytrnd administration of rrain companiesi'He really will think that
' rvould there can be something like a displacementin time-spacethat does not require anl'

oulcl be aging, any transformation-something that is "paid for" nowhereby costly network-

rnd the building. He may evencome to think that isochronictime-measured by his u'atch in

fbr rhe relation rvirh che rrain'sclock-and rsoropicspace-signaled by the number-bearing

milesronesthar flash regularly along the 1p1çlq-21gnormal fearuresoi tlie world.

:lf con- This will not happenif l.reboardsan Italian train, let alonean Indran train, and it will

et\1'een not happen eitber, recall, if there rs a strike or other incident, or even if the erir-

hat :rre conditioning malflnctions slighcly.But if all goessmoothl)'.this travelerrvill take the

n Llnl - resaltof the railway companies'labor-smooth travel acrossspacein time-rs its nor-

Centrill mal catse.After having discardedas irrelevant the tracks, the trains, the switches, the

Itor\. ls bureausof standards,the clockwork, the regulations,the timetables,and tlre whole

artendantmenagerie,he n'ill chenbc ten-rpred
decisivelyto believerhat rhis sysren-r
of

o[ the isochronic and isotopic coordinatescan be located in his ntindl That is the real great

siss0 dangerof train trips; rhey are too comfortable(at leastin Switzerland).Epistemology

L And hazardoFhrsr-class,
is a professional air-conditionedtrain travel.

going Scienceis both prarsedand attackedlor rvhacit cannot possiblyprovide: timeless

irucra- formalism. There are of coursescientistsrvorking on fbrn-rs,on rulers, on maps! on

ctrrcal br-rttheir rvork is not itself formal, ruled, mapped,coordi-

coordinates,on srrLrctures,

ithout nated,strucrured.Formalismscirculateinside scientiÊcnellorks with the regularity,

rfnce, ef{iciencl',elegance,and economyoitrains circuiating on rhe "RatischeBahn."Brrt rn

m0st the samewa]' as no one could even imagine trains keeping regular schedulesrvithout

rrt 1es. railway companies,no one should imagine rhat formalisms cor-rldgo on circulating
's lnd smoothly without tl-recostly institutions known as Researchand Developmenr.Ir is as

.ccical strangero turn isochronfantl isotopy into mencalor nàtural cacegories

irs it is co rurn

rblec- the work of establishingconstantsinto what chemind would be particularlygood at.

shift- The unequippedmind of a clesocialized

scientistwould be unable to prolong rhe lifè
'ded). ofany constant.This is rvhv reseirrchers,
rvellau'areofthesepracricalconstrainrs,cease-

e two lesslydeviseinstruments,time- anclspace-subverters,

dirr,rtraps, and scale-rnverting
 lilS (-OrlIfON KNO\\;l-hD(;E

inscril'rtions,
and in the processprodLlcea fabulor-rsly
interestingl-risrorl'fbr their orvn of che
sciences.Those researchers
resemblen'orried train companv managers,not careless, hisror
well-fecl,ignortrnrtravelers.Even Einstein.in his MachiirnaccoLrnr
oiceneral relariv-
ÉaranrI
itv, cleplovedverl' exprlicitlvrhe engineeringn'ork rhat goes inro shrfting from onc f-or srr
acce.lerated frame to the next rvithout losrn{rinlormation on the rvay.rrHis proverbial watch
''ntollusk
of refèrence'generrltes.lnirbsolutespacc-timebut c,rnnotirself be seenirs/// leitst rr
absolutespace-time. non-S
The idea tharca mind could nakt formal reasoningis as bizarreas imagining thac a displa
solirarvscienristcoLrldnrakea discoveryor ir naked mirlc traveler'sbodl'(not Flashor fbrever
Superman's)
could move bf irself at 100 km/h fiom Paris to Ner,rchâtel.
Yer the vrrl tesr of
idea of"'genetrcepisrenrologvgoesfirrther rharnrhis rhoughr experimenr,imagrning speed.
not only that tlte mind unclertakesfbrn-ralreersoning
througlr fbrmal means,but alscr Tl-re
tl-racthe rvhole historl oi biological lifè, fiom the earliestpre-Cambnanfèrns to rhe hassho
superior cortex of prin-rates,
obsessivelvseeksnothrng bur the consenarionof those context
formzrlrelations.r'Thus formtrlism is taken as rhe pinnacleoi hlrman reasoning,and yearsir
lifè itseli is said to ainr t.Ltnothing else.Here Piagec,the imnrarrentist,apperrrs
to clke cr i sscr
the oppositeposition from thrrtof Bergson,the spirirualist,f-orwhom lifè muscremain the exp
forever fbreign vt Holt,'Jttbet'surge for geometry. In efÈct, horvever,Piager'sposirior-r their re
startsfrom the srimeprinciple: time anclspacecan be said, unproblematicalJl.,
to per- peer gr
tain to lifè itseli. should
Buc rf we ltar.ebeen right to locateche production oi times and spacesin vlrious and ltov
rypes of circulation, registration,and insrruments,rhen one cannot atrribute ro life rravaga
itselithe trming that is cluein largepart co the biologists and evolutionarl'rheorists' of "cogr
pritctice.rrThereis a huge differenceberweena snail rn Lakc Neuchâteland rl-resame culrures
snail inside Piaget'scollection.The first is more Iike the female rraleler of my anec- much fi
dote: it is a sr-rtfering
body among sLlfferingbodies,lacking insrrumenrsro regisrerits sufterin
sr,rflering,
its metirmorphoses,
rts mutations,and all tl-rerisks it clarestirketo stal'alive. heroic e
Ir is onh' t[-resecond,inside a rance of orher snails oi slrghrly differenr colors and onrogen
shapes,that rvill begin to register,rhrough rhe invention ofa new fornr ofsynopticitr', antl Knri
its mutatrons rn relatron to the cl-rangingenvironmenc,itseli represenredby colors. practlce
labels,lengthson millinreteredpaper.As StephenJayGoulclhasso beaLrtifirllr,demon- The ,
strated,one cannotexplzrinthe history of life without raking inro accountrhe l-ristory m a n yd c
and Isa[

''ALbcrt 'l
Einsrein. R,ltlrt it1: Th, Sp*),r/ ,rri th. Gtne,;// |ry,;1., Ptptltt Explrrtiru (Lonclon: Nfethuen
I9lO)

].-|eanPiaget.Biil!tt|tuunl).tid|1L.t:tJ,/j\l|le'itt/,ttttnltn|t/etrt|lhrilurot't',tltt]
'Srepl
(l9tr-; NeLrchjttl: Drlachatrr tt Nicsrlé. l()()li.
I 98()) rl

''See, lr,r instance, tlte m;rrveious 'Fernr

strLclvof Robert E. Kolrier, L,il' ,,l tLt Itll: Drowpl:ilt Gdkrii! ,tilJ tbt
I ' t l r , i u r t t t r t l L i l ( C I r r c . r c oL: l n i v e r s i r r o f C h r c . i r o P r e s s .1 9 9 i r . r n c l r l r r ' c x a m p l e sg a r h c r e di n ' t l x R ) x l , t ' 1 , , , 1 '
l o t l t eJ o L .e c l .C l a r k c a n c lF u i i n r u r a .
See I
 : h e r ro w n
ofthe lifè sciences.t'Theleap.from archivesand collections,instruments,and narural
careless, l'risrorynruseumsto the aim of litè itseli.is a sure rolrceto ftr.ilr-rre-coche lallacy of
Ll relatir'-
granrlng all livrng organismsrr "n'a1'oflife," irn obsession
with constanc!',
a mad seirrclr
from one
fbr structures,a lixation on conservirtionthat might well be characteristicof Swiss
roverbial q'irtchmakers,
rrain manâgers,recordkeepers,and bank collectors,buc that cannot,at
;een irs llz ro snails,scomirchs,brains,children, an.i
least without more reseirrch,be accribr-rted
One can be allorvedto forget, ft)r a moment, tltat smooth
non-Swissmarhemrrticians.
rg that a
in rime and spaceis paid fbr, some\\'here
disp.lacemenr else,by other people;but not
Flashor
fbrever.Time may "passlike norhrng" inside a Srvisstrain compartment, but a good
the very
tesr of this norion'svalidity outside the train might be to iump olf rhe TGV at full
riréllnlnéj
sPeed.
but also
The environment in rvhicl-rPiagrt's tl-ror.rgl"rt
developedought, as FernancloVidll
rs ro the
hasshorvn,to haveprodncedan entirely cliffèrentkrnd ofintellectLlalstance.r"Ifnirïve
oi those
contextualistsirreto be believsd,a biologist born in Neuchitel, rvho worked fbr mirnl'
ing, and
yearsin the natural l-ristorycollectionsof a rich country oi bankersand clocknrakers,
; ro take by rrains,cirrs,trucks, and planes,and who rvould becon're
frrscinatetl
bv
crisscrossed
: remain
the exploring behaviorof children, by the extent of their mirterill mirnipulartions
ancl
posrtlolt
tl-reirrelianceon socrtrlinteractions,.çltott/Jhave
come to argLlethât societies,children's
, ro Per- peer groups, and sciencilicdisciplinesare so many time-producing collectives.He
sl-rouldhaveseenhos'our c()nceptsrelv on ma.erial,social.anclpracrrcalnredi:rtions.
various
and lrow closechildrens cuntroversicsùrc ro scientihccontroversies.
Struck bv-the ex-
' to lifè
rravaganrethnocentrismof most psycholog)',Piaget would have becometl-refbuncler
LeOrlStS
of "cognrtiveanrhropoloÉay,
reveallingthe gap that existsbetrveenpracticalcognitive
le same -
culrures(asEdwin Hurchins has recentlyshorvnrn his important book), irnd, going
v anec-
nrr-rchfirrrher. Ire rvor-rldhave founded:is rvell the stuclr-of rvhat times irnclrvhat spaces
ster lts
sufferingbiologicalbodiestrirceon rheir own terms. And yet, as we all knorv,Piaget's
i'alrve. heroic eflbrt rvirsto eliminate from the mind, fiom the produccionof sciencc,tit,nr
,rS and
onrogenericdevelopment,fiom the history of science,and finalll',especrallyin Bio/ugl
)UClty,
from che hisrory of lifè icseli anv tr:rccof history',of time-producing
anl Knnu'/et/gr'.
coIors.
Pract lce.
emon-
Tl'reconstancyof Piagct, during a long career,in seizing .rnv occasion,in all the
ri s t o r y
many domainsin wl'richhe workecl,to cLlrnvirtualities into potentialities(in Deleuze's
and IsabelleSrenger'ssense)-iris constanr erasureof time and pr.rccice-is srun-

:thucn

,t.qut/tJt 'StcphenJar'
OouIJ,\llu,lofrl blt:'l'1ry Btrtet.t Slule tn,/ rlr Ntrrre oJ Htîrt1(Nerv York: V \\'. Norton
l9fio)-rhe tull ritle should nor be overlooked.

' F e r n a n c l oV i d a l , P r r , q , l[ i t l o i P i , t . 4 r( C r m b r i c f u e :] { l n a r . l l j n r v r r s i n P r c s s ,1 9 9 i ) .
'l
ul,
"r
S e el l u t c h i n s . ( , t , t i t t , ' u t r r h \ \ r l J .
 I9() COMN{ON KNO!OLEDGE

ning.r8 Potentialiry is the realrzation"in time" of what was

already rheretn porcnria.
non é
fime unfoldsdeterminationsbut norhing reallyhappens,just
asit is possiblero calcu-
parad
late all the positionsofa pendulum from its initial position
without the actual fall of
rvorld
tl-rependulum adding new information. The same is rrue
of development, if deve.lop-
on cln
ment is understoodas the unfolding of potentialities:a problem thar piaget
rackled
m €n t
twtce, in regard to the growth of mollusks and with reference
to child intelligence.
ing, ar
virruality is something alrogether differenc; it depends
on the fifth dimension I de-
fined above,which makesspaceand time dependenron process,
on the intensrtywith
which otherrypes of surprising acranrsare connecred.The quest.ion
is thus to decide
whether time is the realizarionof potentialities,or wherher time
emergesfrom the
eliciring, the educing,of virrualities,of surprisingdifferences.
Piaget'sinsistenceon turning virtualitiesinto porenrialiriesrequires
an explanation
that I am not equipped to find but that, I am sure, will interest
socialhisroriansof
ideas.My own guessis that theologymust haveplayeda major role. piaget's
theorizing
has all the timelessnes.s
of a secularizedprorestantism. conrrary ro the generalassump_
tion, theologiansare often more rarionalistthan epistemorogists
are, largely because
tl-reologiansimagine that God has something to do with the same
time and spaceas
cheone producedby immucablemobires,exceptthac He is "beyond.,'
But, sincerheo-
logians (like train rravelersand epistemologists)do not focus
on the work of producing
thosemobiles but only on its resurt,they take isoropyanclisochrony
as fèaturesofthe
world. They commit, to useHeidegger'sranguage,the sin
of metaphysics.Thus, they
have no alternacivebur ro consider God as an encicy beyond space-time,
in a rranscen-
dent other world. If one wishes,like the young piager, to maintain
the ahisto'city
supplied by this God of beyond and abovebut wishes,ar rhe
samerime, to distance
oneselffrom the embarrassingbaggagethar accompanieschristian
theology, one soiu-
tion is to make cerrain thac rhis world itself has all rhe conscancy,
formalism, and
ahistoricirythar characterize ,,beyond.,'
the world
That enterprisesomewhatresemblesrhe experimentby which absolute
zerois to be
reachedby progressivelyslowing down the motion of atoms. The fusing
of psychology,
history, logic, mathematics,pedagogy,and rife irself crearesa
confined spacein wnich
Piaget'sexrraordinarytrial can take place: the slowing down of
history,the slow re-
placementof virtr-ralities
by potentialities,the rransformarionof processinto rhe actu-
alizaùon of consranrs-it is one of che mosr daring scientistic
enterprisesof a century
already rich in such endeavors,ân arrempr to ensure that norhing
unanricipated or
untoward happens,that every srep is regulated according to schedure,
thar onrogeny
recapitulatesphylogeny, thar this world is as welr-regulated as the
rost orher worrd,
thar accounrsand balancesare alwayskepr in spiceofall imbalances,
that consrancyrs
fbrevermainrained in spite of rhe turmoil of history and its world
wars, rhat capnartza-

'^ lsabelie
Stengers' Au nontde la fîche du tlnps: le déf de Prigogine, Co:rnnpol
itiqtes, vol. 5 ( paris: La Décou-
verre.199l).
 TRÂINSOF THOIiC;HT I9]

potent/a. cion goeson for ever wirhouc either lossor expenditure.Pitrget'srimelessness

is rhe
to calcu- of clockmakers,ideal for an army of passivedefer-rse,
pirradoxicaltimelessness for a
al fall of rvorld thar runs smoothly like clockrvork,where trains, colle.qes,
and classroomsrun
levelop- crntime. a ç'orld rvherenothing happens.Tbeniud uit/saattllra: a n-ragnihcenr
cxperi-
tackled mcnr ro show in relrefwhat l"rirs
been missedso far in drscussions
abour timing, spac-
ligence. ing, ancl,rcting.
on I de-
ity with
r decide
rom the

.anatlon
'riansof

rorizing
rssump-
because
ipace as
:e theo-
rducing
s of the
rç therr

anscen-
roricity
lstance
resolu-
n, and

is to be
rology,
wnich
ow re-
3 acfLl-

3ntury
ted or
oSeny
world,
.ncy is
:aliza-

Décou-