At 2:38 PM 11/13/96, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >I thought I already said I agree with them that I was willing to >agree with Stanley A. that physics was subject to the criticism >that its nature was deeply affected by the societal environment. Of course physics and all the other "hard" sciences are affect by the social, political, and cultural environment. These things determine what get funded, what research gets done, and how people interpret experimental evidence. On the other hand, there are real limits to such social constructions. In his hoax piece, for example, Sokal describes conditions under which pi would be a variable - something that was obviously music to the ears of the social constructionists. But it ain't true, obviously. Or read the first paragraph or two of Sokal's piece, which claims that physical reality doesn't exist - more music to the social constructionists. Ain't true either. That Social Text fell for the hoax was funny, but it also revealed some serious intellectual problems with the social constructionists' position that they have apparently still not acknowledged. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>
