Fashionable nonsense : postmodern intellectuals' abuse of science

Author(s)

• Sokal, Alan D.
• Bricmont, Jean

Bibliographic Information

Fashionable nonsense : postmodern intellectuals' abuse of science

Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont

Picador USA, 1998

• : hbk
• : pbk

Other Title

Impostures intellectuelles

Note

"First published in France as "Impostures intellectuelles" by Editions Odile Jacob, 1997"--T.p. verso

Includes bibliographical references (p. [281]-295) and index

Description and Table of Contents

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.<br>

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA39727226
• ISBN:
  • 9780312195458
  • 9780312204075
• LCCN: 98035336
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Original Language Code: fre
• Place of Publication: New York
• Pages/Volumes: xiv, 300 p.
• Size: 21 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : Q175
  • DC21 : 501
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Science -- Philosophy