[From human to number in the construction of toxoplasmosis from the logic of the human sciences].
Based on an empirical analytical study conducted in a biology laboratory, the article investigates the construction of scientific knowledge in the process of toxoplasma DNA extraction. It accompanies all stages in the construction of this knowledge, from selection of humans through their transformation into numbers. Latour's concept of circulating reference, along with the concepts Hacking employs to explain the construction of the objects of science and of ideas, marks, and things, are vital to understanding this shift from human to number. The present study hopes to stimulate a more critical attitude towards the construction of the objects of science. It also stresses that it would be problematic to use numbers or marks as our sole references in health interventions.
Programa de Pós-graduação em Políticas Sociais, Centro de Ciências do Homem, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brasil. veramarques@fmc.br
Vera Lucia Marques da
VL
Silva
Kenneth Rochel
KR
Camargo Júnior