Fashionable nonsense
by Alan D. Sokal, Jean Bricmont · first published 1998
46% recommend46% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Documents how postmodern thinkers like Lacan and Deleuze misuse scientific terms, going well beyond the Sokal hoax. Readers find it entertaining and still relevant, and it suits anyone wary of obscure academic prose.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"In 1996, Alan Sokal Published an Essay in the hip intellectual magazine Social Text parodying the scientific but impenetrable lingo of contemporary theorists. On the heels of the fierce academic debate that followed the hoax, 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
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…multicultural studies, women's studies, etc. Multiculturalism is a wonderful thing, but not the brand that these frauds sell. You can read a pretty devastating critique of these pseudo-scholars in the book Fashionable Nonsense, which describes how two physicists made up a completely bullshit paper, full of utter nonsense, had it accepted for publication in one of the leading postmodernist journals of the time, and confronted…
on “If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is” ↗Since it's trendy to recommend related books on HN, I'd nominate "Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science" by none other than Alan Sokal. It's a fascinating read and just as valid today as it was 20 years ago when it was published, which is actually a bit depressing…
on “Scientific Bias in Favor of Studies Finding Gender Bias” ↗…review by a physicist.' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair IMHO it is the most amazing academic comeuppance in history. Edit: See the author's great book: Sokal, Alan; Bricmont, Jean (1998), Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science (1st ed.), New York: Picador USA, ISBN 0-312-19545-1
on “Cryptographers Solve Decades-Old Privacy Problem” ↗…critique from the other end of the social constructionism spectrum, I strongly suggest you read the chapter devoted to him in Sokal and Bricmont's Impostures intellectuelles (I think it was translated as Fashionable nonsense). It's a little hard to find in print, even in libraries. But I'm sure one could source a digital copy from a less reputable source.
on “"I Want Hue" – Colors for Data Scientists” ↗The disagreement is not between literary theorists and sciencey types Sometimes it is! (http://www.amazon.com/Fashionable-Nonsense-Postmodern-Intell...)
on “How To Deconstruct Almost Anything (1993)” ↗If anyone is only familar with Sokal for his Social Text hoax, you owe it to yourself to check out his book Fashionable Nonsense (originally published in French as Impostures Intellectuelles). While Sokal's hoax exposed inadequacies in Social Text (and similar journals), his book is far more damning. In it he exposes numerous…
on “Academic Drivel Report: Confessing my sins and exposing my academic hoax” ↗Soon after this Sokal and Bricmont wrote a book called 'Fashionable Nonsense' (titled Intellectual Impostures in the UK) in which they tackle Lacan, Deleuze and Guatarri, etc. Its well worth a read. From the wiki page about the book: Sokal and Bricmont claim that they do not…
on “Sokal Affair” ↗…life. There often the point is to sound as complicated as possible to hide the fact that nothing much is being said. The "Sokal Text" affair tends to overwhelm Sokal's bigger accomplishment, the book "Fashionable Nonsense" (with Jean Bricmont). There he shows how famous scholars like Lacan and Deleuze threw random scientific terms into their works in contexts where nothing scientific is being said as a way to sound "deep".…
on “Academia is a cult?” ↗…limited, but has only limited access to reality (well, or creates reality), and at any rate is insufficient. Recommended readings: * The Sokal Hoax [1] * Intellectual Impostors by Bricmont and Sokal (Fashionable Nonsense in the US) [2] for an expansion on the Sokal Hoax, and many examples on pretentious and preposterous abuse of scientific terminology by postmodern philosophers * Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism…
on “How to become a great impostor” ↗For those interested in reading a great book exposing Deleuze and others like him, I recommend Fashionable Nonsense by Sokal & Bricmont.
on “Gilles Deleuze – What is Philosophy? [audio]” ↗Yeah I agree, there are some particularly egregious examples. If you want a good laugh about this stuff, "Fashionable Nonsense" is a great book.
on “A practical case on why we need the humanities” ↗…my/his life?". This puts it in a completely different world than 20th century philosophy which is more often about metaphysics, deconstruction, post-modernism, critical theory, etc... (disclaimer: I found "Fashionable Nonsense" entertaining and have a lot of disdain for most of this). About Russel and Wittgenstein, I obviously wasn't saying anything about their contributions to hard science. Rousseau is indeed one of the more…
on “What to Do” ↗…pseudo-academic jargon" when that's a charge that can very much be laid at the feet of the postmodernists. I mean, there are literally books about it, such as Sokal and Bricmont's Intellectual Impostors (or Fashionable Nonsense in the US).
on “The Provocations of Camille Paglia” ↗…admit it. Even back in the day Baudrillard was alive he would probably have been forced to revise it. There are so many problems with post modernism, many of which Alan Sokal wrote about in his book "Fashionable Nonsense." But there is a good reason he didn't title it "Fashionable Falsehoods." I'm honestly curious now-- why did you decide to add that last paragraph? You gave a nice critique of the author which I'll definitely…
on “Can't Get You Out of My Head” ↗…careers out of it. That philosophy had nowhere to go, so its adherents could take it anywhere in the service of their -- to be frank -- grifting. All it takes is a clever tongue capable of generating "fashionable nonsense" and a lack of intellectual integrity (see: Sokal hoax). Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy (1886) by Friedrich Engels, published after the death of Karl Marx, is one of the…
on “This is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message (1967) [video]” ↗