Fashionable Nonsense : Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science

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In 1996, an article entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" was published in the cultural studies journal Social Text. Packed with recherché quotations from "postmodern" literary theorists and sociologists of science, and bristling with imposing theorems of mathematical physics, the article addressed the cultural and political implications of the theory of quantum gravity. Later, to the embarrassment of the editors, the author revealed that the essay was a hoax, interweaving absurd pronouncements from eminent intellectuals about mathematics and physics with laudatory--but fatuous--prose.

In Fashionable Nonsense, Alan Sokal, the author of the hoax, and Jean Bricmont contend that abuse of science is rampant in postmodernist circles, both in the form of inaccurate and pretentious invocation of scientific and mathematical terminology and in the more insidious form of epistemic relativism. When Sokal and Bricmont expose Jacques Lacan's ignorant misuse of topology, or Julia Kristeva's of set theory, or Luce Irigaray's of fluid mechanics, or Jean Baudrillard's of non-Euclidean geometry, they are on safe ground; it is all too clear that these virtuosi are babbling.

Their discussion of epistemic relativism--roughly, the idea that scientific and mathematical theories are mere "narrations" or social constructions--is less convincing, however, in part because epistemic relativism is not as intrinsically silly as, say, Regis Debray's maunderings about Gödel, and in part because the authors' own grasp of the philosophy of science frequently verges on the naive. Nevertheless, Sokal and Bricmont are to be commended for their spirited resistance to postmodernity's failure to appreciate science for what it is. --Glenn Branch


From Publishers Weekly
The authors of this audacious debunking apparently want nothing less than to embarrass some of the foremost academic stars of the postwar period?including Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray and Paul Virilio, among other luminaries in the humanities?for their "abuse of science." Sokal, a professor of physics at NYU, and Bricmont, a theoretical physicist with the Universite de Louvain in Belgium, offer an argument that's an offshoot of Sokal's notorious 1996 prank in which he submitted an article, high in jargon and low in logic, to a cultural studies journal, which accepted it immediately. After Sokal revealed the hoax, bitter debates raged within academia. Here, he and Bricmont continue where the hoax left off, waging a war of wits with thinkers who, they say, adopt science as a metaphor for their own more literary purposes. The authors also attack critics who fabricate pseudoscientific theories of their own, and much of their book is dedicated to building methodical cases against the academics' principles and logical flaws. The authors fervor and the precision of their writing makes this a most engaging read. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
With unabashed criticism, physicists Sokal and Bricmont analyze the abuse of physical and mathematical concepts found in the confusing and superficial writings of several prominent postmodern philosophers: Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Lacan, Bruno Latour, and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Challenging the assumption in epistemic relativism that scientific theories and external reality are merely social constructs, the authors clearly show that postmodernists have deliberately misrepresented topology, chaos theory, quantum and fluid mechanics, and relativity physics in their absurd replacement of empirical knowledge with subjective obfuscation. They also examine problems within the intellectual frameworks of Paul Feyerabend, Thomas Kuhn, and Karl Popper; unfortunately, there is no critical discussion of Henri Bergson, Jacques Derrida, or Michel Foucault. Unflinching in their defense of rational thought and empirical inquiry over blatant dilettantism, Sokal and Bricmont have written a bold, engaging, and necessary book that is highly recommended for all large science and philosophy collections.?H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NYCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Jim Holt
As physicists, Sokal and Bricmont have done reason a modest service by exposing a species of intellectual quackery.


The Wall Street Journal, Heather Mac Donald
This book may have little effect on its actual subjects, who long ago parted ways with rational debate. But it should be read by every college president and trustee, to better understand how deeply the postmodernist rot has affected their institutions, undermining the very purpose of a university: the search for truth.


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



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



Book Description
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.



Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French


From the Publisher
"No doubt there exist thoughts so profound that most of us will not understand the language in which they are expressed. And no doubt there is also language designed to be unintelligible in order to conceal an absence of honest thought. But how are we to tell the difference? What if it really takes an expert eye to detect whether the emperor has clothes? In Fashionable Nonsense, Sokal and Bricmont give us the background information that should convince any reasonable person that the hoax was earnestly needed and richly justified. A splendid book." --Richard Dawkins, author of Climbing Mount Improbable and The Blind Watchmaker "An excellent discussion...The present book is a plea for a sensible understanding of science and a welcome antidote to irrationality." --Simon Moss, Houston Chronicle "Sokal and Bricmont's book should have an impact at least on the next generation of students...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 the understanding of scientific rationality in contemporary culture." --Thomas Nagel, The New Republic "The spirit of expertly delivered comeuppance inhabits Fashionable Nonsense...Their case is strong." --Thomas Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle "The modern sciences are among the most remarkable of human achievements and cultural treasures. Like others, they merit--and reward--respectful and scrupulous engagement. Sokal and Bricmont show how easily such truisms can recede from view, and how harmful the consequences can be for intellectual life and human affairs. They also provide a thoughtful and constructive critical analysis of fundamental issues of empirical inquiry. It is a timely and substantial contribution." --Noam Chomsky "Take the most hallowed names in current French theoretical thinking, divide by one of the sharpest and most irreverent minds in America, multiply by a half-dozen examples, render in good, clear English--and you have a thoroughly hilarious romp through the postmodernist academy. Two years ago, Sokal struck a devastating blow against intellectual obscurantism with his famous Social Text parody, and Fashionable Nonsense delivers the perfect coup de grace." --Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Blood Rites and The Snarling Citizen


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.



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The modern sciences are among the most remarkable of human achievements and cultural treasures. Like others, they merit -- and reward -- respectful and scrupulous engagement. Sokal and Bricmont show how easily such truisms and recede from view, and how harmful the consequences can be for intellectual life and human affairs. They also provide a thoughtful and constructive critical analysis of fundamental issues of empirical inquiry. It is a timely and substantial contribution. — Noam Chomsky


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