Synopses & Reviews
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.
Now 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.
At once provocative and measured, Fashionable Nonsense is a passionate defense of science and sense.
Review
"Although Sokal and Bricmont focus on the abuse and misrepresentation of science by a dozen French intellectuals, their book broaches a much larger topic--the uneasy place of science and understanding of scientific rationality in contemporary culture."--
Thomas Nagel, The New Republic"An excellent discussion . . . a plea for a sensible understanding of science and a welcome antidote to irrationality."--Simon Moss, Houston Chronicle
Synopsis
In 1996, Alan Sokal published an essay in the hip intellectual magazine
Social Text parodying the scientific but impenetrable lingo of contemporary theorists. Here, Sokal teams up with Jean Bricmont to expose the abuse of scientific concepts in the writings of today's most fashionable postmodern thinkers. From Jacques Lacan and Julia Kristeva to Luce Irigaray and Jean Baudrillard, the authors document the errors made by some postmodernists using science to bolster their arguments and theories. Witty and closely reasoned,
Fashionable Nonsense dispels the notion that scientific theories are mere "narratives" or social constructions, and explored the abilities and the limits of science to describe the conditions of existence.
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.