The Sokal Affair in Context

Bibliographic Data

ID5337158
AuthorsStephen Hilgartner (0000-0002-7791-0833, Cornell University, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume22
Issue4
Pages506-522
Publication date1997-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/016224399702200404
OpenAlexW2100498263
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited23

The failure to consider the Sokal affair in light of other, related episodes has contributed to a wholesale misreading of its significance. The episode has often been offered as evidence for the bankruptcy of a broad and diverse collection offields, variously referred to as cultural studies of science, sociology of science, history of science, and science and technology studies. However, when viewed in context, the Sokal affair illustrates pre cisely why social scientific and humanistic studies of science are necessary. To develop this argument, the author explicitly compares Alan Sokal's experiment with a similar experiment, performed by William M. Epstein and published in this very journal. Comparing the research questions, methods, ethics, and reception of these two experi ments not only reveals the limitations of Sokal's critique but also shows that Sokal has unwittingly endorsed one of the central lines of research in science and technology studies

Epistemology · Humanism · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Climate Change Communication and Perception · History · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology · Science Education and Perceptions

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