Addiction and Actants: The Autonomy Possible in Assemblages

摘要

Pickard'sargument (2012) is that there is purposive action in addiction But the use of addiction language (rather say,substance abuse or chemical dependence) already betrays a specific historical project at work in the argument (vrecko 2010). It is a metaphysical project that Seeks to secure a forme of autonomy and certain kinds object relations appropriate to a particular kind of metaphysical schema. This metaphysical project carries commitments that historically have led to the tiresome arguments about the social construction of the real, a human subject hidden behind the veil of language, and objects in the World that resist us with their recalcitrance (Latour 2000). These positions maintain humans as the unique focal point of the universe and as the sole arbiters of Reason. Established as such, humans are then condemned to never have direct access to the universe itself, only knowledge of it. Addiction is an ideal subject for those interested in this philosophical dilemma. Who is the culprit in addiction? Is it the substance of abuse or a faulty dopaminergic system? Is it individuals who cannot control their urge to gamble? While I agree with Pickard's conclusion that those ravaged by the effects of what is called addiction must be compassionately understood and their treatment informed from this compassionate exercise,