false 385 8 "One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit," Harry G. Frankfurt writes, in what must surely be the most eyebrow-raising opener in modern philosophical prose. "Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted." This compact little book, as pungent as the phenomenon it explores, attempts to articulate a theory of this contemporary scourge--what it is, what it does, and why there's so much of it. The result is entertaining and enlightening in almost equal measure. It can't be denied; part of the book's charm is the puerile pleasure of reading classic academic discourse punctuated at regular intervals by the word "bullshit." More pertinent is Frankfurt's focus on intentions--the <I>practice</I> of bullshit, rather than its end result. Bullshitting, as he notes, is not exactly lying, and bullshit remains bullshit whether it's true or false. The difference lies in the bullshitter's complete disregard for whether what he's saying corresponds to facts in the physical world: he "does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are." <p> This may sound all too familiar to those of use who still live in the "reality-based community" and must deal with a world convulsed by those who do not. But Frankfurt leaves such political implications to his readers. Instead, he points to one source of bullshit's unprecedented expansion in recent years, the postmodern skepticism of objective truth in favor of sincerity, or as he defines it, staying true to subjective experience. But what makes us think that anything in our nature is more stable or inherent than what lies outside it? Thus, Frankfurt concludes, with an observation as tiny and perfect as the rest of this exquisite book, "sincerity itself is bullshit." <I>--Mary Park</I> 4682 10 1 2005 On Bullshit total:1220|5:182|4:347|3:438|2:206|1:47| 1220 4071 1860 170 4 2 false false Sun Mar 11 19:54:40 -0700 2007 Wed May 02 15:28:58 -0700 2007
On Frankfurt's account, there are two necessary conditions for something to count as bullshit:

(1) The speaker mus...more...]]> 2 3 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Aug 13 15:21:57 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 17 19:17:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Feb 25 14:37:49 -0800 2007 Sun Feb 25 14:46:06 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 17:24:31 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 21:57:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jun 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 01 11:57:35 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 11:33:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 04:33:36 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 05:29:20 -0800 2009


In the es...more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Dec 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 05:37:59 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 05:39:02 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 22:11:14 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 22:23:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 09:42:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 09:54:43 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jun 13 16:14:39 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 16:18:18 -0700 2007 3 1 false false Sun Aug 03 14:37:51 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 03 14:40:27 -0700 2008 4 0 true false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 29 15:17:10 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 15:25:09 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 18:15:35 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 19:07:47 -0700 2009
More important than Frankfurt's argument—which is grounded in logic and philosophy, is quite serious in tone, and features a number ...more...]]> 1 1 false false Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 13 13:55:51 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 31 13:34:30 -0700 2009 one too many 2 0 false true Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 17 22:30:07 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 03 12:32:22 -0800 2008 Times can't print it". I guess this is a reprinting of some article that Frankfurt wrote in 1986. He does a decent job to differentiate bullshit from lying or other kinds of deception. He also speculates about the role that b...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 13 12:28:25 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 13:01:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 21:20:48 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 22:08:39 -0700 2008 On Truth by Harry G. Frankfurt is next up. Hopefully, it will tie up som...more...]]> 3 0 true false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Apr 04 16:25:23 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 16:35:29 -0700 2008
"One of the salient features of our culture," says the author in his opening sentence, "is that there is so much bullshit." He g...more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 08 01:02:10 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 08 01:06:00 -0700 2007
This book is probably one of the least read book which even myself find it uninteresting at first. Frankfurt's little ess...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue May 01 20:09:17 -0700 2007 Tue May 01 20:10:23 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=385