Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy and Culture Alan Sokal When physicist Alan Sokal revealed that his 1996 article, "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," published in Social Text, was a hoax, the ensuing scandal made the front page of the New York Times and caused an uproar among the post-modernists he had so convincingly parodied. Now, in Beyond the Hoax, Sokal takes on a new and more dangerous set of targets. The hoax article (included here with new explanatory footnotes), exposed the fallacies in the postmodernist critique of science, which asserts that facts, truth and evidence are mere social constructs. Today, right wing politicians are happily manipulating these basic tenets of postmodernism to obscure the scientific consensus on global warming and biological evolution, at the same time as fundamentalists of all faiths are insisting loudly that their dogmas must be granted 'respect'. Sokal exposes the dangers in such thinking and defends a worldview based on respect for evidence, logic, and reasoned argument over wishful thinking, superstition, and demagoguery of any kind. While deploring our culture's deference toward 'faith', Sokal suggests how non-believers and believers can find political common ground based on shared moral ideas. Written with rare lucidity, a lively wit, and a keen appreciation of the real-world consequences of sloppy thinking, Beyond the Hoax is essential reading for anyone concerned with the state of American culture and politics today. Alan Sokal is Professor of Physics at New York University and professor of Mathematics at University College London. His main research interests are in statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Alongside many publications in physics, his previous books include Intellectual Impostures: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of Science (co-authored with Jean Bricmont, 1998; published in the US/Canada under the title Fashionable Nonsense)