This article starts out by presenting Sokal's three basic claims against postmodernism:
1. Postmodernism approbates the abuse of science.
2. Postmodernism approbates epistemic relativism.
3. Postmodernism is inimical to the political left.
Through a rebuttal of Sokal's claims, the postmodernist perspective on reality and representation is presented.
It is suggested that critical discourse analysis (CDA) is in basic agreement with Sokal's modernism both in its scholarly and in its political premises.
The article ends with a taxonomy of structuralism, poststructuralism, and postmodernism, suggesting that a poststructuralist option is no longer viable and an incorporation of postmodernist epistemology into discourse analysis as well as into political thought associated with it is now imminent.