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Beyond the Hoax
Science, Philosophy and Culture
Alan Sokal
488 pages
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246x171mm
978-0-19-956183-4
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Paperback
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11 February 2010
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- The 'Sokal Hoax' became front-page news around the world and triggered fierce and wide-ranging convtroversy - for an article that was published in a cultural-studies journal was swiftly revealed by its author, Alan Sokal, to be a cunningly worded parody of extreme postmodernist criticism of science.
- Sokal continues to be one of the most powerful voices in the continuing debate about the status of evidence-based knowledge
- This is an intelligent and lucidly-written examination of the role of evidence and the misuse of information, spanning science, philosophy, politics and religion
- The book also includes a hugely illuminating annotated text of the Hoax itself, and a reflection on the furore it provoked
In 1996, Alan Sokal, a Professor of Physics at New York University, wrote a paper for the cultural-studies journal Social Text, entitled 'Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity'. It was reviewed, accepted and published. Sokal immediately confessed that the whole article was a hoax - a cunningly worded paper designed to expose and parody the style of extreme postmodernist criticism of science. The story became front-page news around the world and triggered fierce and wide-ranging controversy.
Sokal is one of the most powerful
voices in the continuing debate about the status of evidence-based knowledge. In Beyond the Hoax he turns his attention to a new set of targets - pseudo-science, religion, and misinformation in public life. 'Whether my targets are the postmodernists of the left, the fundamentalists of the right, or the muddle-headed of all political and apolitical stripes, the bottom line is that clear thinking, combined with a respect for evidence, are of the utmost importance to the survival of the human race in the twenty-first century.' The book also includes a hugely illuminating annotated text of the Hoax itself, and a reflection on the furore it provoked.Readership: <i>Beyond the Hoax</i> will interest readers across a broad
range of disciplines, from the sciences to philosophy, politics, and cultural studies. It is an intelligent and lucid analysis that will appeal to both academic as well as general readers.
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Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics at New York University and Professor of Mathematics at University College, London
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Review(s) from previous edition
"If you're concerned about the role of science in making sense of our world, you need to read it. - BBC Focus, Robert Matthews
"Most scientists will be highly appreciative of and deeply fascinated by what Sokal has to say in this remarkable book." - Chemistry World
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Part I: The Social Text Affair
1: The parody, annotated
2: Transgressing the boundaries: An afterword
3: Truth, reason, objectivity, and the Left
4: Science studies: Less than meets the eye
5: What the Social Text affair does and does not prove
Part II: Science and Philosophy
6: Cognitive relativism in the philosophy of science
7: Defense of a modest scientific realism
Part III: Science and Culture
8: Pseudoscience and postmodernism: Antagonists or fellow-travelers?
9: Religion, politics and survival
10: Epilogue: Epistemology and ethics
Index
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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