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| Beyond the Hoax : Science, Philosophy and Culture
ISBN: 9780191623349
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Science; Science: General;
In 1996, NYU physicist Sokal published a paper entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" in an academic journal. Shortly thereafter, and to great furor, Sokal reported that his paper was a parody of postmodernism. This collection of 10 essays, six of which have been previously published, expands upon the central ideas of that academic joke. Sokal demands a "respect for evidence" and attacks postmodernists, fundamentalists and "the muddle-headed of all political and apolitical stripes." The opening chapter presents the original hoax paper in its entirety, with the addition of annotations describing how he came to write it and explaining all the inside jokes. In subsequent chapters, Sokal explains how postmodernists "confuse truth with claims of truth, fact with assertions of fact, and knowledge with pretensions to knowledge," and demonstrates how pseudoscientists have adopted a similar perspective. In biting prose, he analyzes the concept of "therapeutic touch" being promoted in nursing and "Vedic science" being advanced by Hindu nationalists. Though he concludes with his weakest argument--that religion is simply another form of pseudoscience--Sokal consistently asks the reader to think clearly and follow the evidence, regardless of where it may lead, and for that alone he deserves respect. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Alan Sokal is Professor of Physics at New York University and Professor of Mathematics at University College, London. His main research interests are in statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Among non-physicists, Sokal is probably best known for his famous parody of postmodern science criticism, known as the 'Sokal Hoax', which aroused fierce debate in cultural circles, and received widespread coverage in the media, including front-page stories in the New York Times , the International Herald and Tribune , the Observer , and Le Monde . Alongside many publications in physics, Sokal's previous books include Intellectual Impostures (with Jean Bricmont, Profile Books, 1998; published as Fashionable Nonsense by Picador in the US). |
