After a short summary of the Sokal Affair and of the point of view of Steven Weinberg, we discuss certain aspects of the scientist ideology present in the last book of Alan Sokal Pseudoscience and Postmodernism: Antagonists or Fellow-Travelers?, published in France. The danger of the three extremisms present in our time relativist extremism, scientist extremism and its mirror-image, the religio...

This study examines the effect of exposure to communal violence on support for violent religious extremism. We argue that in communities with high levels of violence, individuals normalize aggressive behaviors and come to see non-conventional, black-or-white ideologies as more appealing. Using data from over 7,500 respondents in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad, we employ multilevel structural equ...

This paper will focus on the geopolitical interpretation of religion in international relations. This dimension has historically related religion to politics and politics among nations. More specifically we will analyze the use of religion as a legitimating instrument of political violence, with special focus on the violence emanating from Islamic extremism and terrorism. History of humanity is...

This paper extends the club model of religion to better account for observed patterns of extremism. We adapt existing models to a multi-agent framework and analyze the distribution of agents and clubs. We find that extremism is more successful when religious groups are able to produce close substitutes for standard goods and that increased access to publicly provided goods can reduce the extrem...

Many studies have found inverse correlations between intelligence and religiosity, intelligence and political conservatism, and intelligence and political extremism. Other studies have found that academics tend to be significantly less religious and more liberal than the general population. In this article, we argue that interdisciplinary differences in religiosity and political perspective amo...

Extremism is a notion, which becomes meaningful in democratic and lawful societies. This is sometimes interchangeable with the terms, Fundamentalism and terrorism. It is often said that one who aims to fight against terrorism, must first challenge and overcome extremism. Thus, Analysis of the potentials of extremism in a society is highly articulated. Whereas Fundamentalism intends to bring abo...