The Sokal Hoax In Fall of 1994, New York University theoretical physicist, Alan Sokal, submitted an essay to Social Text, the leading journal in the field of cultural studies. This essay, entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," pretended to be a scholarly article about the "postmodern" philosophical and political implications of the twentieth century physical theories. However, as Sokal later revealed in the journal Lingua Franca, his
ruin more than they save" (p.172-173 l.342-346). Creon does not think logically that the sentry would not turn himself in for such an impious act. Consequently, the Chorus suggests that the act may have been committed by God. Creon stops this "nonsense" conversation immediately and rebukes that Zeus and the gods would not honor criminals. Creon seems to believe he knows everything and stubbornly refuses to listen to others. He goes as far as not believing his son, Haemon, when Haemon informs
were about divorced couples where the man is upset about providing for the children after the separation even if they are his biological children. In the view of Daniel Callahan, the author of the article “Bioethics and Fatherhood”, this website is nonsense. He argues that, “given the obvious importance of procreation in bringing human life into existence, fathers have a significant moral responsibility for the children they voluntarily procreate”. In the situations where the biological fathers just
language by philosophers. What philosophers had been saying could simply not be said. Their philosophy was beyond the scope of what could be said and was therefore nonsense. By plotting the limits of language, Wittgenstein expected to be able to deal with the problems of philosophy finally. Outside the limits of what can be said lies nonsense, so any theory of language must occur within these limits. Wittgenstein thought that the nature of language could tell us what can and cannot be done with
our "logical" world. But mathematics also exists as abstract forms of structure, which indeed exist in Wonderland through sequence and measurement. Even though Alice's Adventures in Wonderland presents a world that appears random and full of nonsense and inconsistency, these mathematical forms are preserved in Wonderland. Contemporary philosophies of mathematics define the subject as the study of patterns, as opposed to the traditional study of numbers. These patterns exist in many
not as a work of necromancy. But the author shared with Madame Blavatsky, who has a magpie-like tendency to gather and stitch together fact, rumor, speculation, and complete balderdash, and the result is a vast and almost unreadable array of near-nonsense which bears more than a superficial resemblance to Blavatsky's "Secret Doctrine". In times past the book has been referred to as "Al Azif", or "The Book of the Arab". Azif is a word the Arabs use to refer to nocturnal insects, but it is also a reference
Biff is one of the main characters in the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. Biff is Willy's and Linda's son. He was the star of the football team and had scholarships to 3 college's, but he flunked math and couldn't graduate, so he tried to work at many different jobs, and failed at each. Finally, he decided to head out west, and work on farms. Biff came back home this spring, because he didn't know what he was doing with his life. Willy has mood swings and sometimes thinks very highly
resemblance to observable phenomena in society, the paradoxically meaningful nonsense causes Alice (and the reader) to experience epiphanies about the nature of the phenomena Carroll satirizes. In this way, Carroll cleverly, and ironically, uses nonsense to raise consciousness. Specifically, Carroll employs nonsense in the Alice books to construct a satirical, dystopian view of authority. One example can be
with my grandparents, I pointed out the differences between the two stations by singing their respective theme songs and by imitating the voices of their newscasters. To my disappointment, they were much more alarmed than amused. "Don't you talk nonsense in school," Grandma warned me. "You'll bring us trouble." With hindsight, I have realized that her reproach was no more than an attempt to protect what little freedom we did have. Back then, I knew only enough to keep my mouth shut, but I could
in both of Lewis' novels is something that cannot be ignored, even by the most rudimentary of readers. The entire concept of the novels themselves is providing text which, in all honesty, seems to be complete nonsense and providing that nonsense with sense . This theory of sense from nonsense is clearly developed in Chapter 2 of Through the Looking Glass . In this chapter, titled “The Garden of Live Flowers,” Alice remarks to the flowers, “Aren't you sometimes frightened at being planted out here
know, and the more we do know, the more we realize that early interpretations were completely wrong. It is good mental exercise, but people get so hot and nasty about it, which I think is ridiculous." She really was a no-nonsense woman, one who was perhaps more preoccupied with nonsense than she realized. As an explorer of concrete material, her primary and determined pursuit of fossils, bones, and human origins antagonized the speculative nature of her profession. She found beauty in the tangible history
Montag replies by telling her that that is nonsense, and that "Houses have always been fireproof,..."(Fahrenheit 451, page 38) Here you can see how brainwashed and blinded the truth is for the people. Clarisse says good night to Montag, and right before she leaves she asks him, "Are you happy?"(Fahrenheit 451, page39) Before Montag can reply Clarisse is gone, and she leaves Montag pondering her question. As he tells himself that her question was nonsense, he starts to realize that he is not happy
Interest in dreams are dated way back even to the time of the Greeks. “The people of the ancient world tended to believe that some dreams were sent by the gods to convey information to mortals” (Holroyd 44). They discovered “that a dream is not nonsense but information in disguise” (Holroyd 46). The Epic of Gilgamesh was one of the first known writings of dreams. Written four thousand years ago, about the experiences of Gilgamesh. For example, “Gilgamesh dreams that he is pinned to the ground by
The Fallacy of Nonsense Lewis Carroll was a professor of logic, writing among his well known works of fiction, treatises on the subject of logic and even a textbook, Symbolic Logic. “It is the function of logic to classify and formulate fallacious forms of argument as well as valid ones.” (Burks 367) So is it some of the functions of Carroll’s tales of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Presenting different puzzles, riddles, or what appears to be on the surface
lines two and three of "Written in Disgust of Vulgar Superstition" Keats says "calling the people to some other prayers, some other gloominess, more dreadful cares." This image of people flocking to prayers so that their heads can be filled with nonsense (dreadful cares) which they do not need is the initial bash on church by Keats. From these two lines, it is obvious right away that the writer is no too fond of religion and the morals it preaches. He apparently feels as if church is a bunch of
“Man, Fragged by the LPB Sniper again!!!” That may sound like nonsense to the average person but to the seasoned Counterstrike veteran it speaks volumes. Today, millions of people of all ages are coming together on the Internet to compete against each other in a variety of online games. The most popular of which is an online modification of the game Half-life entitled Counterstrike. Counterstrike itself is comprised of players broken up in to two teams, terrorists and counter terrorists, who then
Nonsense in Lewis Carroll's Poem "Jabberwocky" Roland Barthes’ "Toys" expresses the idea that French toys revolve around convention, preparing children to be adults by allowing them to repeat normal adult activities without much imagination. However, one only has to look in any modern toy store to see that today’s American toys focus more on imagination, not imitation. In contrast, however, children are usually taught language based on convention; certain words have set meanings and certain
Earnest" In the closing lines of the first act of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," Algernon remarks, "I love scrapes. They are the only things that are never serious," to which Jack responds, "Oh, that's nonsense Algy. You never talk about anything but nonsense." Algernon caps off this exchange with a proclamation of the purpose of the whole work: "Nobody ever does" (1642). Wilde never allows anything in the work to conclude on a serious note. While Wilde repeatedly proclaims this
does not change; but Osrichad distinctly grown up. The Queen was a little fatter; and the King's teeth seemed to me to be needing attention. These were the principal changes I noticed in the play.... Some people will say that this is fantastic nonsense, and that it was I that had changed, not the play. Most imagine that when a work of art leaves the hand of the master, it remains in changeless beauty forever, though succeeding generations may feel differently about it, seeing it from different
fight, and discriminate. It gives people reason to not associate with their fellow man. It causes a fear of the out-of-the-ordinary. Without education, race can be a barrier separating us. It takes an intelligent, genuine person to see past this nonsense. Education helps one realize the fallacy race creates. There is no such thing as a superior race. Unfortunately, many people have difficulty seeing past portrayed stereotypes. It may take a person years or decades to come to terms with the fact that