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from the won't-be-fooled-again,-or-will-they? dept.
Portland State University has initiated disciplinary proceedings against their philosophy professor Peter Boghossian for conspiring with colleagues to submit more than two dozen satirical papers to feminist theory and race-studies journals in an effort to prove those disciplines are academically fraudulent. The hoax papers, some of which were accepted by journals and which were revealed back in October, made Boghossian and his cohorts the international toast of "free thinkers" concerned that college campuses have become paralyzed by political orthodoxy.
After their ruse was revealed, the three authors described their project in an October article in the webzine Areo, which Pluckrose edits. Their goal, they wrote, was to "to study, understand, and expose the reality of grievance studies, which is corrupting academic research." They contend that scholarship that tends to social grievances now dominates some fields, where students and others are bullied into adhering to scholars' worldviews, while lax publishing standards allow the publication of clearly ludicrous articles if the topic is politically fashionable.
Sources:
The Chronicle of Higher Education : Proceedings Start Against 'Sokal Squared' Hoax Professor (archive)
Willamette Week : Professor Who Authored Hoax Papers Says Portland State University Has Launched Disciplinary Proceedings Against Him (archive)
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:03AM (3 children)
This could really backfire on Portland State. As a higher education institution they should consider which actions serves the pursuit of truth and which do not. But hey, it's in Portland, OR so we all know the brakes broke on their crazy train about 10 years ago.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Bot on Saturday January 12 2019, @12:04PM (1 child)
Indeed.
The journals have ONE job. To filter the bullshit so that the precious time of academics is not lost on irrelevant stuff. They failed and fail and will fail because there are too many stakes against them from multiple parties.
The behaviour of the uni is wrong on two levels
1. They shoot the whistleblower. Nuff said
2. They protect the journals by implying they are the victims instead of the perpetrators.
If the journals have no means to distinguish truth from bullshit, it also probably isn't science in the first place.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sigterm on Saturday January 12 2019, @06:16PM
>If the journals have no means to distinguish truth fro
>bullshit, it also probably isn't science in the first place.
Precisely, and that's not something either the journal editors or the professors or even the university administration are likely to admit anytime soon. "Turns out we've spent millions on pseudoscience for the last 30-40 years, sorry about that" are words we'll hear from no one, ever, no matter what the evidence may say.
Expect to see more ad hominem attacks against the hoaxers.
(Score: 1) by Tokolosh on Saturday January 12 2019, @03:52PM
Cancel their Square account.