Higher superstition : the academic left and its quarrels with science

Bibliographic Information

Higher superstition : the academic left and its quarrels with science

Paul R. Gross, Norman Levitt

Johns Hopkins University Press, c1994

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-304) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

With the emergence of "cultural studies" and the blurring of once clear academic boundaries, scholars are turning to subjects far outside their traditional disciplines and areas of expertise. In "Higher Superstition" scientists Paul Gross and Norman Levitt raise serious questions about the growing criticism of science by humanists and social scientists on the "academic left". As literary theorists deconstruct scientific "texts" and feminists condemn scientific "patriarchy", they argue, principles and practices that underlie 300 years of scientific acheivement come under attack from scholars with little actual knowledge of science. Gross and Levitt explore the origins and history of the trend and examine examples of "science bashing" from an array of currently fashionable viewpoints - postmodernism, feminism, radical environmentalism, multiculturalism, and AIDS activism. They find the origins of antiscience attitudes not only in modern discontents but also in a long tradition of Romantic unhappiness with Rationalism. Their concerns, however, are clearly for the present and the future. They question how far the university community should go in validating nonscientific judgements of science. And they warn that the long-term consequences of these trends - for science education and for public judgement of scientific issues - may be infinitely more serious than the "political correctness" wars currently being waged on university campuses.

Table of Contents

  • The academic left and science
  • history and politics - natural science and its natural enemies
  • the cultural construction of cultural constructivism
  • the realm of idle phrases - postmodernism, literary theory and cultural criticism
  • auspicating gender
  • the gates of Eden
  • the schools of indictment
  • why do people imagine a vain thing?
  • does it matter?.

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Details

  • NCID
    BA22660459
  • ISBN
    • 0801847664
  • LCCN
    93032914
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Baltimore
  • Pages/Volumes
    ix, 314 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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