Maarten Boudry (born 15 August 1984) is a Dutch language-speaking Belgians philosopher and skeptic. He has been a researcher member of the Department of Philosophy and Ethics at Ghent University since 2006.
Academic background
Boudry began his studies in philosophy at
Ghent University in 2002, where he graduated
cum laude in 2006. Between 2007 and 2011, he conducted
research at
Ghent University (Logic, History and Philosophy of Science), funded by a research grant from the Flemish foundation Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO). After obtaining his
PhD, he became a postdoctoral fellow at Ghent University, again with the financial support of the FWO. In 2013, he was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Konrad Lorenz Institute in
Vienna for six months, where he worked on the philosophical underpinnings of
irrationality. Boudry has undertaken many foreign study visits. Additionally, he is a frequent speaker at international conferences and gives guest lectures at academic institutions.
Boudry is a member of a number of scientifically-oriented organizations: the Flemish skeptical organization SKEPP,
Sokal affair
In 2011, Boudry pulled a
Sokal affair hoax. Boudry wanted to put Christian philosophers to the test by writing a meaningless abstract, full of
theology jargon, with the title "The Paradoxes of Darwinian Disorder. Towards an Ontological Reaffirmation of Order and Transcendence".
The abstract contained sentences such as, "In the Darwinian perspective, order is not immanent in reality, but it is a self-affirming aspect of reality in so far as it is experienced by situated subjects."
Under the
anagram-
pseudonym Robert A. Maundy from the fictitious College of the Holy Cross in Reno, Nevada, Boudry submitted the abstract to the organizers of the Christian philosophical conference "The Future of Creation Order" at the VU University Amsterdam and the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, which both accepted it without any reservations.
The hoax, which Boudry revealed in mid-2012 on
Facebook but became more widely known only after the
United States scientist
Jerry Coyne blogged about it,
received attention in a number of Dutch
Protestantism newspapers such as
Reformatorisch Dagblad,
Trouw, and
Nederlands Dagblad.
When asked in an interview with the Dutch popular philosophy magazine Filosofie Magazine about the reason for the hoax, Boudry said the following:
No one had discovered that "Robert A. Maundy" and the "College of the Holy Cross" did not exist. Gerrit Glas, president of the conference at the time, found the text to be odd and said they had hesitated for a long time, but ultimately decided to give "Maundy" the benefit of the doubt.
Skepticism
Maarten Boudry is mainly known for his skepticism and critical attitude toward
pseudoscience. As a philosopher of science, one of his main interests is the study of pseudoscience in all its forms and expressions. He studies the fallibility of human reasoning that might underlie pseudoscience and irrationality. Boudry characterizes pseudoscience as "an imitation of real
science". In his MA
thesis, entitled
De naakte Keizers van de Psychoanalyse (The Naked Emperors of Psychoanalysis), he explains why he classifies
psychoanalysis as a pseudoscience and which immunizing strategies this school of thought has developed over the years to withstand criticism. Together with
philosopher Johan Braeckman he wrote the book
De ongelovige Thomas heeft een punt (
Doubting Thomas has a point), in which they offer arguments against
parascience and pseudoscience, blind faith,
wishful thinking,
astrology,
irrationality,
psychokinesis, and
dowsing, as they consider these ideas to be grounded in
logical fallacy. The title refers to the attitude of Thomas the Apostle, who was initially skeptical when he was told that
Historical Jesus had been
Resurrection. In an interview, Boudry said:
In publications and debates, Boudry also criticizes religion, intelligent design, and theology. In 2014, during the Dutch Nationale Religiedebat (National Religion Debate), philosophers Maarten Boudry and Herman Philipse (both of whom are ) debated Stefan Paas and Rik Peels on the question of whether belief in a god is reasonable and what the impact of nonbelief on morality is.
Awards
-
2007: SKEPP-prize for best thesis on immunizing strategies in psychoanalysis.
-
2011: Liberales book of the year for De ongelovige Thomas heeft een punt
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2012: Shortlist ‘Socrates Wisselbeker Filosofie’ for the book De ongelovige Thomas heeft een punt
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2013: Shortlist Science Communication Award, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts
-
2015, Illusies voor gevorderden. Of waarom waarheid altijd beter is, Polis,
Selected publications
Maarten Boudry has published a considerable number of articles in both
Peer review philosophical journals and in public print media (newspapers and magazines). Some of his conference presentations are publicly available as well.
Bibliography
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2006, De naakte Keizers van de Psychoanalyse. De Immunisatiestrategieën van een Pseudowetenschap (MA thesis)
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2011, Here be Dragons. Exploring the Hinterland of Science (PhD dissertation)
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2011, De ongelovige Thomas heeft een punt (co-author Johan Braeckman), Houtekiet,
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2013, Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem (co-author Massimo Pigliucci),
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2015, Illusies voor gevorderden. Of waarom waarheid altijd beter is, Polis,
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2018, Science Unlimited?: The Challenges of Scientism (co-author Massimo Pigliucci)
-
2019, Waarom de wereld niet naar de knoppen gaat, Polis, .
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2019, Alles wat in dit boek staat is waar (en andere denkfouten), Polis (co-author Jeroen Hopster, Polis,
External links
