“In this atmosphere of general discouragement, it is tempting to attack something that is sufficiently linked to the powers-that-be so as not to appear very sympathetic, but sufficiently weak to be a more-or-less accessible target (since the concentration of power… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
“We have seen in this book numerous ambiguous texts that can be interpreted in two different ways: as an assertion that is true but relatively banal, or as one that is radical but manifestly false. And we cannot help thinking… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
Anyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the windows of my… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
“The relativists’ stance is extremely condescending: it treats a complex society as a monolith, obscures the conflicts within it, and takes its most obscurantist… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
“In this atmosphere of general discouragement, it is tempting to attack something that is sufficiently linked to the powers-that-be so as not to appear… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
Why should self-indulgent nonsense - whatever its professed political orientation - be lauded as the height of scholarly achievement? — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
“Each religion makes scores of purportedly factual assertions about everything from the creation of the universe to the afterlife. But on what grounds can… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
“We have seen in this book numerous ambiguous texts that can be interpreted in two different ways: as an assertion that is true but… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
And I'm a stodgy old scientist who believes, naively, that there exists an external world, that there exist objective truths about that world, and… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
A mode of thought does not become 'critical' simply by attributing that label to itself, but by virtue of its content. — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
“Thus, by science I mean, first of all, a worldview giving primacy to reason and observation and a methodology aimed at acquiring accurate knowledge… — Alan Sokal Copy Share Image
