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I totally agree with you (and Sokal) in highlighting the way credible figures are used as an intellectual crutch for lesser intellects and I too see this all the time at work. My only problem is how such an observation often disguises a more general distrust of the ideas that inspired such posturing.
This isn't to say that Derrida, et al, are above criticism, but if that was Sokal's aim then I just wish he'd come out and done it, instead of taking pot-shots at those I'm sure Derrida has just as little time for as anyone else. Of course, the answer to why he didn't choose this method is that a hoax essay creates far more headlines than a reasoned critique (which, judging from his 'Beyond the Hoax', clearly isn't one of Sokal's strengths).
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