Anything Goes
Origins of the cult of scientific irrationalism

by David Stove

The most acrimonious controversy within intellectual debate today is over the status of Western science. Since the publication of the now famous Sokal hoax, the ‘science wars' have erupted. Critics from radical sociology, cultural studies and science studies have charged that, instead of being a universally valid method of attaining knowledge, science provides only an ethnocentric view of the world. Their opponents have replied that the debate has become a site of political demagoguery, theoretical obfuscation and plain ignorance.

The most remarkable book in this whole debate is Anything Goes by the Australian philosopher, the late David Stove, who in recent years has gained a cult following among philosophy students in both Australia and the USA. Long out of print but now republished by Macleay Press, this book has a new foreword by Keith Windschuttle and a new Afterword by James Franklin.

Read More