[MD] Beyond the Hoax

[David M]

>> Hi Platt
>>
>> Yes, Alan Sokal is also pretty leftist in his views too, and attacks
>> postmodernism for its failure to help progressive politics.
>> He has also recently mentioned that he thinks Nick Maxwell
>> offers a better way forward and that he intends to write about
>> him.
>>
>> Ta
>> David M
>
> Hi David M,
>
> Sokal's political leanings are irrelevant to the validity of his expose of
> feckless postmodern thought.
>
> Regards,
> Platt
>

DM: Not for me, knowing how you love progressive politics. Of course,
Chris Norris in his book 'Deconstruction: theory and practice' in the 1980s
sees Pirsig as an early postmodern. Interesting that Sokal admires Nick
Maxwell who admires Pirsig. Derrida of course bangs on about the
role of values in our theories. So the overall picture of relationships is 
complex.
I agree with postmodernism that scientismand SOM is not such a great thing,
but with Sokal and Maxwell that we still need to find an alternative to 
handle
reason and science, to make the best of them, as human activities based on
human values.