索克尔事件概述

A Brief Description of the Sokal Affair

为检验后现代科学元勘领域的学术标准 ,纽约大学物理学教授索克尔对《社会文本》杂志进行了一次恶作剧式的文化研究实验 ,引起欧美知识界的强烈反响和广泛争论 ,造成轰动一时的“索克尔事件”。其中最为引人注目的是索克尔与《社会文本》编辑马拉松式的论战 ,而索克尔与布里克蒙合著的《知识赝品》更是把“两种文化”之争推向了白热化。本文旨在对这起学术事件进行客观、全面的描述 。

In order to test the intellectual standards of postmodern science studies, Alan Sokal, a professor of physics at New York University, tried an experiment on Social Text, which gave rise to intense repercussions and widespread debates in Europe and America. This was called “the Sokal Affair' . The most conspicuous aspect of the affair was the debate between Sokal and the editors of Social Text. Furthermore, Impostures Intellectuelles coauthored by Sokal and the Belgian physicist Bricmont leaded the dialogue between “two cultures' to a new height. This article aims at generally describing this affair, but not analyzing and reviewing it.