Village Voice reviews Sokal-Bricmont

Frances Bolton (PHI) fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu
Fri Dec 4 16:35:44 PST 1998


Rakesh,

I think your overreacting. Lott is maybe being a bit sloppy in that he is suggeting there is a closer connection between NSMs and the academic left than there in fact is. You can't read Rorty and think he's pro-identity politics, and Sokal is always refering to himself as an unrepentant Old Leftist. The Old Left was not great on women and people of color,.for the most part. Plus, I think there is a bit of Sokial being judge byhis friends--he does run with some very fast company (see: Gross and Levitt). There is also the question of his writing style, he is vicious.

So one might expect that he will be treated likewise.


> I have also been blown away by Frances abusing John Maynard Smith just
> because in the course of a very thoughtful review of Lewontin and Levins he
> wonders whether dialectics may be anachronistic in terms of the
(and so on)

Huh? I never mentioned John Maynard Smith. I've never even read him him. I just went back over the stuff I posted to the list--nothing about him. Please take more care to see who wrote what before attacking people for things they did not in fact write.

frances



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