A House Built on Sand: Exposing Postmodernist Myths about Science

Description

Many at work in the field of cultural studies argue that "science is politics by other means, " insisting that scientific inquiry is profoundly shaped by ideological concerns. They base their claims on historical case studies purporting to show the systematic intrusion of sexist, racist, capitalist, colonialist, and/or professional interests into the very content of science. Not long ago physicist Alan Sokal poked fun at these claims by foisting a sly parody on the unwitting editors of the cultural studies journal Social Text, touching off a remarkable torrent of editorials, articles, and heated classroom and Internet discussion. A House Built on Sand picks up where Sokal left off. In a joint effort between scholars from the "two cultures" of science and the humanities, this volume offers devastating criticism of case studies intended to demonstrate that scientific results tell us more about social context than they do about the natural world. The volume concludes by detailing the negative effects of cultural studies myths on education, science journalism, and public policy. Technology scholar Meera Nanda traces the reactionary impact of postcolonial theory on the politics of development in India. Noretta Koertge, a philosopher of science and the volume's editor, reveals how efforts to improve science literacy in the United States are being subverted by uncritical acceptance of postmodernist accounts of science. Front Cover......Page 1 Front Jacket......Page 2 Title Page......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Contributors......Page 13 Scrutinizing Science Studies......Page 19 Part I The Strange World of Postmodernist Science Studies......Page 23 1 What the Social Text Affair Does and Does Not Prove - Alan D. Sokal......Page 25 2 What the Sokal Hoax Ought to Teach Us - Paul A. Boghossian......Page 39 3 A Plea for Science Studies - Philip Kitcher......Page 48 Part II Myths, Metaphors, and Readings......Page 73 4 Bashful Eggs, Macho Sperm, and Tonypandy - Paul R. Gross......Page 75 5 An Engineer Dissects Two Case Studies - Philip A. Sullivan......Page 87 6 Evidence - Free Forensics and Enemies of Objectivity - Paul R. Gross......Page 115 7 Is Darwinism Sexist? (And if It Is, So What7) - Michael Ruse......Page 135 Part III Interests, Ideology, and the Neglect of Experiments......Page 147 8 When Experiments FailIs Cold FusionŽ Science as Normal? - William J. McKinney......Page 149 9 Avoiding the Experimenters Regress - Allan Franklin......Page 167 10 - Do Mutants Die of Natural Causes? The Case of Atomic Parity Violation - Allan Franklin......Page 182 11 Latours Relativity - John Huth......Page 197 Part IV Art, Nature, and the Rise of Experimental Method......Page 209 12 In Defense of Bacon - Alan Soble......Page 211 13 Alchemy, Domination, and Gender - William R. Newman......Page 232 14 What Is Wrong with the Strong Programmes Case Studyof the Hobbes-Boyle DisputeŽ? - Cassandra L. Pinnick......Page 243 15 Reflections on Bruno Latours Version of the Seventeenth Century - Margaret C. Jacob......Page 256 Part V Civilian Casualties of Postmodern Perspectives on Science......Page 271 16 Postmodemisms and the Problem of Scientific Literacy - Noretta Koertge......Page 273 17 The End of Science, the Central Dogma of Science Studies, Monsieur Jourdain, and Uncle Vanya- Norman Levitt......Page 288 18 The Epistemic Charity of the Social Constructivist Criticsof Science and Why the Third World Should Refuse the Offer - Meera Nanda......Page 302 Index......Page 329 Back Jacket......Page 343 Back Cover......Page 344