Ontography
Last updated: Saturday, 29 June 2024
The study or description of beings, entities, and their relationships within a given context. It challenges and troubles the boundaries between epistemology and ontology, inviting us to consider how our ways of knowing shape and are shaped by our conceptions of what exists.
Proponents of ontographic approaches argue that we must take seriously the premises and commitments embedded in different cultural frameworks, rather than dismissing them as epistemic variations.
How is ontography distinct from or complementary to the broader philosophical study of being?
An ontographic approach seeks to articulate and “map” a given object, entity, or phenomenon’s constituent elements. This involves identifying and exploring ethnographic “puzzles” – phenomena that defy easy explanation within our existing conceptual repertoires – using them as starting points for conceptual experimentation and redescription. (Holbraad 2012, etc.) The aim is to surmount or ameliorate the contradictions in our observations, identifying and mobilising conceptual resources that can minimise the distortions in our representations, and charting the ontological suppositions required.
- [?] What are some specific methods, techniques, or heuristics involved in conducting an ontographic analysis? What does the actual practice look like?
- [?] Can radically divergent ontologies be rendered commensurable through anthropological translation and analysis? How can we navigate the tensions between taking ontological premises seriously and the need for analytical purchase?
- [?] Does embracing ontological multiplicity lead to a form of relativism that undermines the possibility of cross-cultural dialogue and critique?
- [?] If we take ontological premises seriously, how do we adjudicate between competing claims within a given cultural context?
Tags: epistemics
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