Pre-Owned The Sokal Hoax: The Sham That Shook the Academy (Paperback) 0803279957 9780803279957

Pre-Owned The Sokal Hoax: The Sham That Shook the Academy (Paperback) 0803279957 9780803279957

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In May 1996 physicist Alan Sokal published an essay in the fashionable academic journal Social Text. The essay quoted hip theorists like Jacques Lacan, Donna Haraway, and Gilles Deleuze. The prose was thick with the jargon of poststructuralism. And the point the essay tried to make was counterintuitive: gravity, Sokal argued, was a fiction that society had agreed upon, and science needed to be liberated from its ideological blinders.

When Sokal revealed in the pages of Lingua Franca that he had written the article as a parody, the story hit the front page of the New York Times. It set off a national debate still raging today: Are scholars in the humanities trapped in a jargon-ridden Wonderland? Are scientists deluded in thinking their work is objective? Are literature professors suffering from science envy? Was Sokal's joke funny? Was the Enlightenment such a bad thing after all? And isn't it a little bit true that the meaning of gravity is contingent upon your cultural perspective?

Collected here for the first time are Sokal's original essay on "quantum gravity," his essay revealing the hoax, the newspaper articles that broke the story, and the angry op-eds, letters, and e-mail exchanges sparked by the hoax from intellectuals across the country, including Stanley Fish, George F. Will, Michael Bérubé, and Katha Pollitt. Also included are extended essays in which a wide range of scholars ponder the long-term lessons of the hoax.

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What is Pre-Owned: Fair?

Worn with possible foxing, creasing or small tears and may not contain non-vital pages like endpapers— but its integrity is still intact. There may be underlining and highlighting of text and possible writing in the margins.

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Product image for illustration purposes only. The item you receive may vary from the image in minor ways, such as slight differences in appearance, color, and/or design. *Exceptions apply during holiday season, and on certain electronics, collectibles, and jewelry.

Pre-Owned: Fair

Item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in fair condition. The item may be marked, identified, or show other signs of previous use. The item remains usable.

What is the Walmart Pre-Owned Program?

Walmart Pre-Owned allows you to find previously owned, well-cared-for items from Walmart’s trusted & performance-managed sellers. Shopping Pre-Owned allows you to bring home the best-quality picks at even lower prices, in addition to extending the life of an item & reducing waste. Find your favorites & shop a range of conditions in every category.

See here for additional details & specific condition qualifications.

Why Walmart Pre-Owned?

Trusted sellers & quality items

Each Pre-Owned item listed comes from Walmart’s trusted performance-managed sellers, to ensure you get quality items.

Quality you can afford

Save even more on top brands & your most-loved items.

30-day free returns

Don’t love it? Most items offer a 30-day* free return policy, for added peace of mind.

Sustainability

Shopping Pre-Owned helps in extending the life of an item & reducing waste.

Product image for illustration purposes only. The item you receive may vary from the image in minor ways, such as slight differences in appearance, color, and/or design. *Exceptions apply during holiday season, and on certain electronics, collectibles, and jewelry.

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