ABSTRACT
The usual approach of conventional Sociology to artefacts such as documents and other ‘representations’ is outlined, using examples drawn from Louis Bucciarelli and John Law. It is proposed that this approach systematically substitutes sociological interests in metaphysical questions such as how the nature of (social) reality and its constitution are displayed for the mundane interests which the users of those artefacts have. The net effect of this ‘substitution’ is the positioning of the sociological analysis provided as a critique of the metaphysics held to be embedded in the artefact in question.
