The Power of the Metaphysical Artifact

In the nineteenth century, French and Mexican intellectuals had a common interest in providing a groundwork for educating better citizens in response to social crises. There were political and philosophical controversies regarding science and technology in this environment between spiritualists (humanists) and positivists (scientists). One of the book’s objectives is to demonstrate that political projects influenced philosophical and scientific arguments in dispute. Power and knowledge were intertwined in these controversies. Another objective of the book is to show that controversies can be seen as a dispute between two cultures between those in favor of science and technology and those in favor of philosophy and the humanities. Their constant polemics articulated a third culture based on an intertwining of power and knowledge. This articulation had an implicit dimension in which philosophy, science, and technology had to interact to enrich the political potential of the human experience of thinking. They were able to grasp a mix or a synthesis that conceptualized the power of a metaphysical artifact in which philosophy, science, and technology belong to the same culture, where politics helps invite dialogue between different cultural, religious, and political perspectives.