ALAN SOKAL, TRANSGRESSING THE BOUNDARIES--TOWARD A TRANSFORMATIVE
HERMENEUTICS OF QUANTUM GRAVITY
A reference from the World Wide Web
PROGRAMME NOTE: This is the text of the infamous (in po-mo circles) hoax
by Sokal that appeared in the Spring/Summer 1996 issue of Social
Text. At this site, Sokal also provides the text of his "confession" of
the hoax in Lingua Franca. He also gives access to numerous
commentaries on his adventure.
It is the subject of discussion in a Table
Talk, in which we refer to a defense of Sokal by Steven Weinberg.
Some see Sokal's hoax as a battle in the "science wars" being mounted against
postmodern cultural criticism by the "technoscience" establishment. Andrew
Ross in an essay, Science Wars, written before Sokal's hoax examines the reasons why
scientists are mounting the war and suggests a way to the peace table.
Alan
Sokal, Transgressing the Boundaries.
19 July 1996; updated 23 March 1997
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