Description
In 1996 physicist Alan Sokal published an essay in Social Text--an influential academic journal of cultural studies--touting the deep similarities between quantum gravitational theory and postmodern philosophy.
Soon thereafter, the essay was revealed as a brilliant parody, a catalog of nonsense written in the cutting-edge but impenetrable lingo of postmodern theorists. The event sparked a furious debate in academic circles and made the headlines of newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. In Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science, Sokal and his fellow physicist Jean Bricmont expand from where the hoax left off. In a delightfully witty and clear voice, the two thoughtfully and thoroughly dismantle the pseudo-scientific writings of some of the most fashionable French and American intellectuals. More generally, they challenge the widespread notion that scientific theories are mere narrations or social constructions.Author: Alan Sokal, Jean Bricmont
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: 10/29/1999
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.67lbs
Size: 8.28h x 5.55w x 0.84d
ISBN13: 9780312204075
ISBN10: 0312204078
BISAC Categories:
- Science | Philosophy & Social Aspects
- Philosophy | History & Surveys | Modern
- Philosophy | Criticism
About the Author
Alan Sokal is a professor of physics at New York University.
Jean Bricmont is a theoretical physicist with the Université de Louvaine in Belgium.