Towards an Ethics of Quantification: Relationality, “Common Sense,” and Incommensurability

In recent years, concerns have been repeatedly raised in multiple academic disciplines about the ideological textures and imbrications of quantification. Taking to heart these concerns (which animate other contributions to this volume), I argue that classicists and ancient historians stand to benefit considerably from developing a robust ethics of quantification. I ask two guiding questions: (1) Does quantification in ancient history have an ethics? (2) Is it necessary to develop such an ethics? After a brief exposition of Wendy Espeland and Mitchell Stevens’ list of those properties that attach to quantification, I address the risks of not quantifying, or of side-eyeing quantification, in Part I; the limits and rewards of quantification, in Part II; and, as a concluding number, the hypnotic effects of quantification and data generation, in Part III.