Editing Sokal affair (section)

=== Jacques Derrida ===
The French philosopher [[Jacques Derrida]], whose 1966 statement about [[Einstein's theory of relativity]] was quoted in Sokal's paper, was singled out for criticism, particularly in U.S. newspaper coverage of the hoax.<ref name="Plotnitsky1997">{{Cite journal |last=Plotnitsky |first=Arkady |date=January 1997 |title='But It Is Above All Not True': Derrida, Relativity, and the 'Science Wars' |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1426652600 |journal=Postmodern Culture |volume=7 |issue=2 |doi=10.1353/pmc.1997.0006 |s2cid=144322398 |id={{ProQuest|1426652600}}}}</ref><ref name="Derrida1997">{{Harvtxt|Derrida|1997}}</ref> One weekly magazine used two images of him, a photo and a [[caricature]], to illustrate a "dossier" on Sokal's paper.<ref name="Derrida1997" /> [[Arkady Plotnitsky]] commented:<ref name="Plotnitsky1997" /> <blockquote>Even given Derrida's status as an icon of intellectual controversy on the Anglo-American cultural scene, it is remarkable that out of thousands of pages of Derrida's published works, a single extemporaneous remark on relativity made in 1966 (before Derrida was "the Derrida" and, in a certain sense, even before "deconstruction")&nbsp;... is made to stand for nearly all of deconstructive or even postmodernist (not a term easily, if at all, applicable to Derrida) treatments of science.</blockquote>
Derrida later responded to the hoax in "{{lang|fr|Sokal et Bricmont ne sont pas sérieux}}" ("Sokal and Bricmont Aren't Serious"), first published on November 20, 1997, in {{lang|fr|[[Le Monde]]}}. He called Sokal's action "sad" for having trivialized Sokal's mathematical work and "ruining the chance to carefully examine controversies" about [[scientific objectivity]].<ref name="Derrida1997" /> Derrida then faulted him and Bricmont for what he considered "an act of intellectual [[bad faith]]" in their follow-up book, ''{{lang|fr|[[Impostures intellectuelles]]}}'': they had published two articles almost simultaneously, one in English in ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'' on October 17, 1997<ref>Sokal, Allan and Jean Bricmont. "The Furor Over Impostures intellectuelles: What Is All the Fuss About?" ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'' October 17, 1997, p.&nbsp;17.</ref> and one in French in ''{{lang|fr|[[Libération]]}}'' on October 18–19, 1997,<ref>Sokal, Allan and Jean Bricmont. "Que se passe-t-il ?" ''[[Libération]]'' October 18–19, 1997. pp.&nbsp;5–6.</ref> but while the two articles were almost identical, they differed in how they treated Derrida.

The English-language article had a list of French intellectuals who were not included in Sokal's and Bricmont's book: "Such well-known thinkers as [[Althusser]], [[Barthes]], and [[Foucault]]—who, as readers of the TLS will be well aware, have always had their supporters and detractors on both sides of the Channel—appear in our book only in a minor role, as cheerleaders for the texts we criticize." The French-language list, however, included Derrida: "{{lang|fr|Des penseurs célèbres tels qu'Althusser, Barthes, Derrida et Foucault sont essentiellement absents de notre livre}}" ("Famous thinkers such as Althusser, Barthes, Derrida and Foucault are essentially absent from our book").

According to Brian Reilly, Derrida may also have been sensitive to another difference between the French and English versions of ''Impostures intellectuelles''. In the French, his citation from the original hoax article is said to be an "isolated" instance of abuse,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Sokal|Bricmont|1997|p=17}}</ref> whereas the English text adds a parenthetical remark that Derrida's work contained "no systematic misuse (or indeed attention to) science".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Sokal|Bricmont|1998b|p=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Brian J |title=Hopkins Impromptu: Following Jacques Derrida Through Theory's Empire |journal=MLN |date=September 2006 |volume=121 |issue=4 |pages=911–928 |doi=10.1353/mln.2006.0101}}</ref>

Sokal and Bricmont insisted that the difference between the articles was "banal".<ref>Sokal, Allan and Jean Bricmont. "Réponse à Jacques Derrida et Max Dorra". ''[[Le Monde]]'', December 12, 1997. p. 23.</ref> Nevertheless, Derrida concluded that Sokal was not serious in his method, but had used the spectacle of a "quick practical joke" to displace the scholarship Derrida believed the public deserved.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Derrida|2005|p=70}}</ref>