Alan Sokal
Alan David Sokal (born January 24, 1955 in Boston , Massachusetts ) is an American physicist . He is Professor of Physics at New York University and, since January 2006, Professor of Mathematics at University College London . Sokal is known for his attack on postmodern and poststructuralist currents in the philosophy of science and epistemology .
Life
Sokal studied at Harvard University with a bachelor's and master's degree in 1976 (summa cum laude) and received his doctorate from Arthur Wightman at Princeton University in 1981 (An Alternate Constructive Approach to the Quantum Field Theory, and a Possible Destructive Approach to ).
Sokal deals with quantum field theory , statistical mechanics , mathematical and numerical physics and related questions of combinatorics .
Among other things, he was visiting professor in Nicaragua in the summer months from 1986 to 1988.
Published in 1996 Sokal an article Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity (too German about: The Crossing Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity ) in the journal Social Text , and then explained in the journal Lingua franca that he wrote this article as a parody . The aim of his prank (known as the " Sokal Affair ") was to draw attention to poor academic standards and the abuse of mathematical and scientific metaphors in the post-modern understanding of the humanities and social science scene.
In 1997, published jointly with Jean Bricmont , Eleganter Nonsense. How postmodern thinkers abuse the sciences ( Impostures Intellectuelles , Fashionable Nonsense ), it is argued that in writings by authors such as Jacques Lacan , Julia Kristeva , Luce Irigaray , Bruno Latour , Jean Baudrillard , Gilles Deleuze , Félix Guattari and Paul Virilio physico- mathematical mystifications .
Fonts
- with R. Fernandez, Jürg Fröhlich : Random Walks, Critical Phenomena, and Triviality in Quantum Field Theory , Springer Verlag 1992
- Transgressing the Boundaries. Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity . In: Social Text . No. 46/47 , 1996, pp. 217-252 , doi : 10.2307 / 466856 ( online [accessed December 25, 2017]).
- with Jean Bricmont : Fashionable nonsense: postmodern intellectuals' abuse of science , New York, Picador 1998 (French original: Impostures intellectuelles , Paris, Odile Jacob 1997)
- Elegant nonsense. How postmodern thinkers abuse the sciences . Beck , Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-45274-4 (French: Impostures intellectuelles . Paris 1997. Translated by Johannes Schwab and Dietmar Zimmer).
- Fashionable nonsense. Postmodern Intellectuals ′ Abuse of Science . Picador, New York 1998, ISBN 0-312-19545-1 (English).
- Beyond the hoax: science, philosophy and culture , Oxford University Press 2008
Web links
- Literature by and about Alan Sokal in the catalog of the German National Library
- Website of Sokal at New York University
Individual evidence
- ^ Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ↑ From the German edition of Eleganter Unsinn , which contains a German translation of the article.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sokal, Alan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sokal, Alan David (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 24, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Boston , Massachusetts , USA |