"On Bullshit" by Prof. Harry Frankfurt, Princeton University

[Gloria]

Short version...

http://www.jelks.nu/misc/articles/bs.html





New York Times article on Frankfurt....
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/14/books/14bull.html?ei=5094&en=c1f5c6a38f183e9d&hp=&ex=1108443600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print&position=

February 14, 2005
Between Truth and Lies, An Unprintable Ubiquity
By PETER EDIDIN

Harry G. Frankfurt, 76, is a moral philosopher of international reputation and a professor emeritus at Princeton. He is also the author of a book recently published by the Princeton University Press that is the first in the publishing house's distinguished history to carry a title most newspapers, including this one, would find unfit to print. The work is called "On Bull - - - - ."

The opening paragraph of the 67-page essay is a model of reason and composition, repeatedly disrupted by that single obscenity:

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much . 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 and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern, nor attracted much sustained inquiry."


Description/summary and endorsements

http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/7929.html

The essay goes on to lament that lack of inquiry, despite the universality of the phenomenon. "Even the most basic and preliminary questions about remain, after all," Mr. Frankfurt writes, "not only unanswered but unasked."

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[Plaid Adder]

1. Good luck to him!

I suppose I shouldn't be hurt that he doesn't cite my research on the subject:

http://www.plaidder.com/crackpot.htm#bullshit

I think bullshit is a major philosophical and political problem--with this administration more than ever. Hope the book sells!

The Plaid Adder

[applegrove]

2. Brilliant Title. I cannot wait for this season of books!!

This week it is the comedians that are scapegoated. Look for the academics to be attacked next!!