Karen Barad, Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Article (PDF Available) · April with Meeting the Universe Halfway has ratings and 35 reviews. In this volume, Karen Barad, theoretical physicist and feminist theorist, elaborates her theory of. Meeting the Universe Halfway is an ambitious book with far-reaching In this volume, Karen Barad, theoretical physicist and feminist theorist.

Meeting the Universe Halfway is a complete account of quantum physics viewed from a diffractive perspective and with an agential realist focus in mind. The Science and Ethics of Mattering 3 1. Nov 24, Phakin rated it really liked it. Rather, they are the condition of possibility of ‘humans’ and ‘non-humans’, tye merely as ideational concepts, but in their materiality. Oct 01, Christy rated it it was amazing Shelves: A work, moreover, that promised to rethink and rec It’s hard to overestimate the tremble univerde excitement that attended the publication of Karen Barad’s Meeting The Universe Halfway when it first came out nearly ten years ago.

Taking the writings of the great physicist Neil Bohr, Barad dehumanizes his writing by removing what Meillasoux calls “Ptolomey’s Revenge” in which the sciences and philosophy take the human account of things to be the end point of justifi Barad presents an account of reality univere calls agential realism.

Her methodological approach to “diffraction” rather than reflection hniverse also appreciated as was her intellectually entertaining and lengthy Acknowledgements section.

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The argument is interesting and her use of quantum physics to try to prove it more so, but the question lingers: Jun 09, Alex rated it it was amazing. According to Barad’s theory of agential realismthe universe comprises phenomena, which are “the ontological inseparability of intra-acting agencies”. Barad’s original training was in theoretical physics.

Overall, it is easy to dismiss Barad as spewing academic gibberish, especially for a physicist.

Karen Barad

In this book Karen Barad puts her expertise in feminist studies and quantum physics to superb use, offering agential realism as an important alternative to representationalism. I’ll never again perceive anything the way I did before reading Barad. Barad’s description of agential realism is interesting but, like those it argues against, it remains an idea.

Eschewing the so-called ‘spectator theory of observation’ in which human agents stand apart from the universe they observe, Barad thus takes great pains to read humans ‘back in’ to the universe, placing the focus on the very materiality of the scientific process itself, one as much a part of the universe it measures as everything else note too that not ‘minds’, but rather material apparatuses and physical arrangements are what count as ‘agents of observation’ here, foreclosing any simple charge of idealism.

I don’t fault her for that. Probably the most gruelling book I have ever read on the topics. Ever wanted to know about the Stern-Gerlach apparatus, or the details of quantum eraser experiments? I feel like this is what Liz Cullingford would so I did not actually finish this book, but I read about pages of it and that felt like enough to justify rating it.

Karen Barad - Wikipedia

Refresh and try again. How does one prove an ontology? I’ve read her article “Meeting the Universe Halfway” and found that it covers the main theme of this book and her “agential unievrse as well.

I did not actually finish this book, but I read about pages of it and that felt like enough to justify rating it. I think it’s very helpful to start from it. There’s also a fascinating, 2 or 3-page section toward the end of the book about the wholeness of the universe that was a highlight of the book.

Taking too much time for a self-trained in physics fhe me.

A human consciousness can provide an apparatus of measurement but the larger reality as a whole including consciousness provides conditions for knowing itself.

The impossibility of being able to objectively account for everything is the problem that in the universe one part of it needs to be “lost” or in Zizek’s terms, less than nothing for jeeting other part of the universe to be analyzed.

But I think such dismissals would do an injustice to the creativity and passion of her efforts, and to such audiences’ own specialized fields. Continental philosophy Materialism [1] Feminism. In her words, the agential cut has to do with distinguishing between the material affects of the apparatus of measurement in creating phenomenon.

We can outline it thus: While intuitively we understand this in pop explanations as “point of view” she radicalizes this account by extending it into the formal fields of post-structural philosophy and quantum physics. Jan 09, Daniel Sparwath rated it really liked it. Nov 28, Alex Lee rated it it was amazing Shelves: View additional images and download publicity materials.

Her research topics inc Karen Michelle Barad born 29 Aprilis an American feminist theorist, known particularly for her theory of Agential Realism. Library resources about Karen Barad. May 11, Alexander rated it really liked it. If you’re a scientist, or someone with a scientific background, who wants to understand Feminism from a physicist feminist, this is the book for you! Finally, Barad uses agential realism to produce a new interpretation of quantum physics, demonstrating that agential umiverse is more than a means of reflecting on science; it can be used to actually do science.

These points on science, agency, ethics, and knowledge reveal that Barad’s work is similar to the projects of other science studies scholars such as Bruno LatourDonna HarawayAndrew Pickeringand Evelyn Fox Keller. The opening section of the book is especially interesting for those of the quantum physics persuasion!!

In this book, Barad also argues that ‘agential realism,’ is useful to the analysis of literature, social inequalities, and many other things.

It’s a missing link tied with loose string. Much of Barad’s scholarly work has revolved around her concept of “agential realism,” and her theories hold importance for many academic fields, including science studiesSTS Science, Technology, and Society thhe, feminist technosciencephilosophy of science, feminist theoryand, of course, physics.

Mar 12, Jesi rated it it was amazing Shelves: