The Sokal Affair: The Role of Subjectivity in Shaping the Controversy
León Olivé
"Sokal's hoax" triggered a many faceted controversy dealing with issues such as the very idea of science, science’s role in contemporary society and culture, the status of academic journals and the reliability of referees, and the problem of the exportation of concepts from one discipline to another. Many people took part in the debates, coming from the natural sciences as well as from the social sciences and the humanities, bringing into the controversy different perspectives, values and interests. Some interventions took place in publications of very wide circulation, like The New York Times and The New York Review of Books.
I'll analyze parts of this debate concentrating on the role of subjectivity in shaping the controversy and determining its contents and development. To what extent discrepancies and ways of conducting the debate can be attributed to subjective views, values and interests and what does this reveal about debates of this sort?