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Books : On BullshitIn association with Amazon.com Amazon.com's Price: $9.95 Prices subject to change.Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 177.3 EAN: 9780691122946 ISBN: 0691122946 Label: Princeton University Press Manufacturer: Princeton University Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 80 Publication Date: January 10, 2005 Publisher: Princeton University Press Studio: Princeton University Press Sales Rank: 5730 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory." Frankfurt, one of the world's most influential moral philosophers, attempts to build such a theory here. With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt proceeds by exploring how bullshit and the related concept of humbug are distinct from lying. He argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do, that is, by deliberately making false claims about what is true. In fact, bullshit need not be untrue at all. Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Frankfurt concludes that although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the practitioner's capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true. By virtue of this, Frankfurt writes, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are. Amazon.com Review: "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 practice 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." 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." --Mary Park Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A Liar's ParadoxAn American version of the Liar's paradox but with other nuances, this tiny philosophical tome is worthy of the Western Canon of Philosophy. It is worth reading. Critically speaking, however, much of the connotation and denotation of the word analyzed within this book is lost within the philosophical logic. The word under consideration is used often in the American West, but all of the rugged ranch humor associated with that word is lost within a philosophical dissection of the word's etymology. ... Read More Rating:  - defining BSThis treatise is simply an exploration of the definition of the commonly used term 'bulls***' (just to be on the safe side of Amazon censors). Frankfurt's main task is to dilineate between outright lies and bs. He comes to the conclusion that a lie is something that cares about the truth value of a proposition while bs does not care. Bs is expressed simply to meet some goal and not to tell either a truth or a falsehood. This definition is sensible in modern use of the term. Think about that essay ... Read More Rating: - Really?Is Frankfurt himself a BS-er? Either way it opens eyes to how much in the world really is questionable. Rating: - Reference guide to business ethicsQuirky and very small (67 pages in a pocket-sized hardback format), this purports to be an academic consideration of the meaning of the titular word. And in fact it does give serious thought to the distinction between lying and BS-ing. Intriguing is the best review I can think of for this book, which is easily read in one hour, although it might bear repeated reference during the course of a typical work day amongst those who might attempt to accomplish their purposes using this technique! Rating: - Two Key Points -- No BSThis book has serious points to make, although the reader may wander through a few pages before becoming confident that it is not attempting a self-parody. Stay with it and glean at least two key concepts. First, BS is not lying. A liar knows the truth and carefully crafts an alternative to it to further some agenda. The BSer operates without regard for--perhaps even knowledge of--the truth. The BS is created to achieve an effect, to please the ego or ear, or perhaps just to fill some conversational ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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