Hey, I wrote a book.
Did The Science Wars Take Place?
Covers the history and philosophy of a fight in the 80s & 90s between some postmodernists and scientists, with an eye to anarchist interests and lasting political influences among the far-right.
Pre-order here:
In the 70s and 80s, a current emerged in leftist subcultural spaces and eventually in academia that aggressively denied that scientific models could ever capture any degree of a single underlying objective reality.
This was vociferously opposed by anarchists, feminists, antifascists, many marxists, and other radicals.
Chances are, you've heard of "Sokal's Hoax" but a misrepresentation of it. Sokal had valid points in '96, but he's since fallen to TERFism in ways that contradict scientific realism.
The end of my book tears him and Kathleen Stock apart. Here's a sample chapter: https://store.c4ss.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ch11.pdf
Retail is 23.95, but if you pre-order through C4SS, you can get it for 20.
Infoshops and radical libraries in the US can order a bundle of five copies for $30 (including shipping) by reaching out to me at [email protected].
Will it be available for pre-order on Bookshop . org? (Searched and did not see it)
I like to order from there to support my local radical bookstore when I can, but I'll pre-order directly from C4SS if it's not going to be there
We've been dealing with all kinds of heartbreaking (and deadline breaking) shipping issues. So no, right now the only immediate plan is C4SS and then Amazon.
Okay, got it. C4SS it is then! Thanks for the response. Sorry about the heartbreak. I appreciate your ethical approach to releasing this work.
I didn't invent "realism" or "antirealism" -- they're the standard longstanding umbrella terms in philosophy and in this historical debate, I go into the varying forms and currents at length, including the fraction of self professed relativists who nevertheless claimed to be Kantian realists. The "antirealists" as such chose and often proudly brandish that label. If you want to try to tag in someone like Ayn Rand for dunk points, at least try harder.
@rechelon I am not completely ignorant of the debate. I find it much easier to accept someone identifying as an anti-realist to point out the underlying absurdity of the framing than to accept the pomposity of identifying as a guardian and arbitrator of "reality."
But, I think its disingenuous to brush off Rands contribution to that discourse. She was involved in it, she named her philosophy that to reflect her position on the matter.
We could be here all day naming realists and antirealists and the passion by which they prosecuted various positions within each umbrella. Rand, like many others that could be named on both sides, was pretty much absent in the 80s and 90s Science Wars. You can whine about "pomposity" -- I have subchapters addressing both the antirealist charges that realism is too arrogant and that it's too humble -- but saying *there is* a reality isn't the same thing as claiming to be its arbiter.
And I can assure you, there were quite a few very relevant camps arguing that in fact there is no such thing as a single physical reality to substantive impact. I was raised by a leftist faith healer, in a cult that took pride in Feyerabend's defense of faith healers, and have the lingering physical disabilities to show for it.
🙄
Do you think I would be so frank about personal emotional motivations if I was some kind of proponent of detached debate bro civility? Whether or not a kid dies of a preventable illness because the parent believes we make reality with our minds remains an objective fact, not a subjective one. And it's pretty trivial that such issues have relevance for liberation.
Sure, it's just often effective to counter vapid laziness with earnestness.
We're getting orders going through, so I'm guessing this is an issue with direct Google Pay specifically. Add to cart, go to cart and it should be fine.
mutual
William Gillis 🏴
calends
The Little Wars
Grant Gould