The Social Text, Indeed

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

I thought this item might be of interest, considering recent discussions
here on science and its (mis)uses.

The most recent issue (46/47) of the academic journal SOCIAL TEXT is devoted
to the issue of "science wars," in terms of critiques of (among other things)
the presumed neutrality and objectivity of science.

The last essay in the issue, by Alan D. Sokal, is titled "Transgressing the
Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity."

The article contains statements such as the following:
"It has thus become increasingly apparent that physical 'reality,' no less than
social 'reality,' is at bottom a social and linguistic construct; that
scienctific 'knowledge,' far from being objective, relfects and encodes the
dominant ideologies and power relations of the culture that produced it;
that the truth claims of science are inherently theory-laden and self-
referential; and consequently, that the discourse of the scientific community,
for all its undeniable value, cannot assert a priveleged epistemological
status with respect to counterhegemonic narratives emanating from dissident
or marginalized communities."


Well, foax, it turns out this is an elaborate ruse by Dr. Sokal, who wrote it
as a parody and was apparently surprised to find it accepted by SOCIAL TEXT.


Chew on that as you will.  Two reservations, though:

1) it seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to (15 pages of text, 12 more
of footnotes, and 220 [!] citations);

2) the fraud was reported briefly in this week's NEWSWEEK, which is just the
kind of publication that would pounce on this kind of thing.  I haven't checked
the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it 
mentioned there as well.


Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)