Intellectual Quackery in Academia

Intellectual quackery extends throughout the landscape of academia; tenured professors in the humanities and social sciences, on the right and left, are constantly purveying theories that are the philosophical, literary, and artistic equivalents of junk science. That many of the researchers consider themselves intellectuals is sad but unremarkable in the annals of quackery withing academia: junk thought with an intellectual patina fosters anti-intellectualism as effectively as junk science with a scientific patina fosters public misunderstanding and suspicion of real science. This sort of junk thought knows no racial, political, or gender boundaries; among teh most notable examples is a wacky but influential movement within academic feminism, mainly in the humanities and such fields as psychology and sociology, intent on attacking some of the most monumental fields of human endeavor as hopelessly tainted by the male lust for violence and domination. These tainted phallocentric pursuits include science and classical music. In a work published in 1986, Sandra Harding, professor of philosophy at the University of Delaware, compared the scientific method to "marital rape, the husband as scientist forcing nature to his wishes."

Notes:

This is the worst form of junk-thought, because it comes from a source the public considers reliable, the Colleges and Universities.

Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism junk thought quackery academia

Taxonomies:
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/art and entertainment/music/music genres/classical music (0.183079)
/science/social science (0.131120)

Keywords:
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Entities:
Sandra Harding:Person (0.962171 (neutral:0.000000)), University of Delaware:Organization (0.792883 (neutral:0.000000)), professor of philosophy:JobTitle (0.767442 (neutral:0.000000)), rape:Crime (0.766163 (negative:-0.461740)), scientist:JobTitle (0.731726 (negative:-0.390934))

The Age of American Unreason

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Jacoby , Susan (2008-02-12), The Age of American Unreason, Pantheon, Retrieved on 2011-04-06

Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism elitism