The Paradigm of Complexity in Edgar Morin and the Latourian Epistemology

Abstract

This study compares the philosophies and epistemological proposals of philosophers and sociologists Edgar Morin and Bruno Latour. To this end, we present Morin’s thought - specifically his critique of what he calls the old paradigm of simplification and his proposal of a new paradigm of complexity or complex thought. We then attempt to demonstrate, by comparison, how Latourian epistemology fits within this epistemological proposal or new paradigm as an example of a metatheory that is capable of successfully dealing with the challenges presented by Morin’s complex thought. This study seeks to contribute to the field of knowledge theory in social sciences and studies in Science, Technology, and Society through a more descriptive, comprehensive, and careful methodological and epistemological proposal concerning the various constitutive factors of any research object in the field of knowledge and technologies.