<< Today Alan Sokal was on NPR's "The Connection" which is hosted by
Chris Lydon. Sociologist, Trevor Pynch (sp?) was on to critique Sokal
and Bricmont. He is the author of _The Golem_ and he is a defender
of science studies which he sees as rooted in the work of such
philosophers as Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper, and W.V. Quine.
>>
You know, a lot of people talk like that. I was a student of Kuhn and consider myself Quinean or anyway a neopragmatist. But One think I learned from Tom Kuhn--a PhD physicsita nd a very great historicain of science--is that you have to know what you area studying and criticizing before you have anything worthwhile to say. The problem with the science studies types is that unlike Kuhn and (to a lesser extent) Popper, they know no science--just some philosophy of science. Quine of course, knows no science, but doesn't hold forth on oit except in a very general way. All this crap makes me glad I'm out of academia. There area lot of idiot lawyers too, of course.
--jks