I. The Most Famous Academic Joke of the Twentieth Century In the spring of 1996, a physicist succeeded in doing something that generations of philosophers, historians, and scientists had failed to accomplish. Without publishing a new theory, discovering a new particle, or producing a single experimental result, Alan Sokal triggered one of the most enduring intellectual controversies of the late twentieth century. The article at the centre of the affair bore an imposing title:

Universities and research funding agencies are supposed to recognize evidence. That is their profession. Or at least, that is what they claim when they cash in student tuition and millions in public research funds. For several years, however, the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have devoted an extraordinary amount of bureaucratic energy, committee hours, and institutional self-righteousness to a scandal that did not exist. Meanwhile

Les universités aiment parler de “communauté scientifique”. Expression charmante. Elle évoque des bibliothèques silencieuses, des esprits rigoureux, des débats honnêtes et quelques vieux professeurs encore capables de lire un livre jusqu’à la dernière page. La réalité est souvent moins poétique. Belfagor ouvrira prochainement une section consacrée aux véritables scandales académiques. Pas les querelles narcissiques de réseaux sociaux. Pas les “polémiques” fabriquées pour vend