Leuchtende Unordnung, aufscheinende Ordnungen

Abstract

This essay attempts to characterize the “strict” methodology of Michel Serres (1930–2019), a structuralist philosopher of knowledge, science and culture. On the one hand his works seem to be playful, even literary. On the other hand – and above all, so the author’s thesis – in its consequence they are quite uncompromising: Serres follows a structuralist, if not mathematical, paradigm. Methodically important leitmotifs of Serres’ thinking – for the epistemic context, these are, e. g. the detour, the wandering, the journey, the creation of connections – appear as micrological scenes or (recurring) narrations. They offer small phenomenologies and at the same time explore and expose structures: the interplay between disorder(s) and order(s). In recent years, Serres has become known for his writings on Internet and digitization. But there is also something like Serres’ legal, social, and ecological philosophy – which is well worth looking into.