Salon.com reviews Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont’s Fashionable Nonsense. I have previously been entertained by Sokal’s critique of postmodernism; I even have a quote as an AIM away message from Sokal’s explanation of the gibberish he published in Social Text. Consequently, I might find this book quite amusing. However, this article makes a valid argument regarding the nature of Sokal and Bricmont’s critique: that postmodern authors frequently misuse or completely bungle mathematical or scientific analogies in their work does not refute their theories. It certainly means that postmodern authors often write in a manner which obfuscates rather than clarifies, but it does not mean that they have nothing of value to say.
I don’t know… anybody read this book and want to share their opinion?
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