ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the relationship between a view of the world, as constituted, on one side, by universal objectifications of knowledge and scientific facts, and, on the other, as an experiential realm of affective intensities, emotions, sensorial experiences, and subjective concerns and values, what Alfred North Whitehead calls the bifurcation of nature, and Bruno Latour describes as matters of fact and matters of concern. The historical developments that led to this ‘bifurcation,’ such as the project of the mathematization of nature and the seeking of universal laws that begin in ancient Greek philosophy, but which further evolved in the 17th century, are briefly described and explored within the context of modern traffic infrastructure and the paradigms of traffic research approaches.
