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Régis Debray on Incompleteness - Dictionary of Arguments
Sokal I 200 Incompleteness/Gödel/Debray/Bricmont/Sokal: (R. Debray 1981)(1): Debray makes an allusion to Gödel's incompleteness theorem and explains that "collective insanity finds its final reason in a logical axiom that itself is not justified: incompleteness". (1981(1), p. 10). (1981, p. 256): The "mystery of our collective misery, the a priori condition of every political history in the past, present and future, can be expressed in a few simple, even childlike words. When one realizes that more work and the unconscious are to be defined in a single sentence (...),... >Incompleteness, >Gödel. Sokal I 201 ...there is no danger of confusing simplicity with exaggerated simplification. The mystery takes the form of a logical law, an extension of Gödel's theorem: there can be no organized system without closure, and no system can be closed by elements that belong to only this system. SokalVsDebray: There is simply no logical relationship between this sentence and sociological questions. Note: in a more recent text(2), Debray admits that "Gödelitis... is a common disease" and that the "transfer of a scientific knowledge and its generalisation outside its specific valid domain can lead to great mistakes (p. 7). In addition, he explains that his use of the sentence is only meant "metaphorical or isomorphic". (1996, S. 7). >For the correct use of mathematical concepts see >Sokal/Bricmont. 1. R. Debray, Critique de la raison politique, Paris, 1981. 2. R. Debray, "L'incomplétude logique du religieux", Bulletin de la societé francaise de philosophie 90, 1996 pp. 1-25._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Debr I Régis Debray Critique de la raison politique ou l’Inconscient religieux Paris 1987 Sokal I Alan Sokal Jean Bricmont Fashionabel Nonsense. Postmodern Intellectuals Abuse of Science, New York 1998 German Edition: Eleganter Unsinn. Wie die Denker der Postmoderne die Wissenschaften missbrauchen München 1999 Sokal II Alan Sokal Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science New York 1999 |