Umwelt-measures. On extensive and intensive measures: Introduction to the special issue ‘Theorising measures,rankings and metrics’

Abstract

In modern science, we usually associate value with a numerical determination – such as, for instance, the value of the Planck constant. However, once we examine value as a co-original facet of measure, we are led to distinguish – with Spinoza – what we could call the natura naturans of measure from what we understand by measurement as its natura naturata. First, I discuss the tensions and the connections between the extensive side of measures (molis, magnitude) and their intensive side (virtus, worth) to provide a preliminary map for plotting the relations between measures and the social–moral–technical environments where they are performed. The second part of the text presents the articles in this special issue, highlighting how they tackle the social ecology of measures drawing from distinct theoretical lineages.