From "Harry G. Frankfurt, Philosopher With a Surprise Best Seller, Dies at 94/He spent his career exploring will and deceit. Then came a sudden success: a bluntly titled book that found that one strain of dishonesty with a barnyard name was worse than lying."
The headline makes it seem as though the NYT doesn't think it's "fit to print" that blunt title — "On Bullshit" (paid link) — but the title does appear in the first paragraph and the word "bullshit" appears over and over in the text of the obituary. The key insight:
Whereas the liar is at least mindful of the truth (if only to avoid it), the “bullshitter,” Professor Frankfurt wrote, is distinguished by his complete indifference to how things are.
Whether its purveyor is an advertiser, a political spin doctor or a cocktail-party blowhard, he argued, this form of dishonesty is rooted in a desire to make an impression on the listener, with no real interest in the underlying facts. “By virtue of this,” Professor Frankfurt concluded, “bullshit is the greater enemy of truth than lies are.”
I've read that book, and I blogged about it 11 years ago, in "I had my tonsils out and was in the Evelyn Nursing Home feeling sorry for myself. Wittgenstein called." (Wittgenstein was disgusted that the tonsilectee said "I feel just like a dog that has been run over." She didn't "know what a dog that has been run over feels like.").
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The introductory paragraph of the original essay was the high point, on the need for an academic theory of bullshit.
Forgiving the professor (in this case Mr. Frankfurt) there is a far more pernicious form of lying than even bullshitting.
A "liar" at least knows what the truth is.
A bullshitter could care less what the truth is.
But a "gaslighter" ... he not only knows the truth, he's actively trying to prevent you from learning the truth and works to get you to believe the falsity with your own eyes.
That is far, far more dangerous of a person than a mere bullshitter. And we are surrounded by "gaslighters" in our elite.
"Whereas the liar is at least mindful of the truth (if only to avoid it), the “bullshitter,” Professor Frankfurt wrote, is distinguished by his complete indifference to how things are."
How ironic that the NYT did not want to print the word "bullshit" in the title of an article when they think nothing of bullshitting their readers every day. Really, what better place to have a story about bullshit and bullshitters than on the pages of the NYT?
She didn't "know what a dog that has been run over feels like."
Yeah, and I don’t know what equine urine tastes like but it won’t stop me from saying that a bad glass of beer tastes like horse piss. Stupid thing for Wittgenstein or anyone else to get exercised over.
@Althouse, you do get that the “reality-based community” community does not include any Democrats nor any other individual who is sufficiently far to the left of center.
This reminded me that whenever our current President utters some bullshit that he wishes to be taken seriously, he always follows it by saying "no joke!"
Official climate science is largely bullshit. This doesn't mean there are no facts in there somewhere. It would take a super-human effort to scrub all facts. It simply means the purveyors don't really care--they have careers to take care of, media performances, conferences at exotic resorts, executive jet travel, and so on. David Suzuki's daughter once gave an interview, in which she said everyone should live in crowded cities and take transit. Supposedly less impact on the environment blah blah. Then she said: of course I can't give up my car. I live in a remote spot on Vancouver Island.
Harry Frankfurt, Rest In Peace. His book changed my life. And that's no bullshit.
"this form of dishonesty is rooted in a desire to make an impression on the listener, with no real interest in the underlying facts"
The book may have been aimed W but applies better to Joe, Fauci, DJT, KBJ, et al.
With this trans business, the official Dem party line is 2 + 2 = 5 and you can't question it.
That Bullshit jobs article that appeared in 2013 was illuminating to me and confirmed my gut instinct that bullshit is the dirty fuel that runs much of the western world. As a former high school and college English teacher I spent many an hour contemplating why I was teaching what I was teaching. Was it valuable or was it bullshit? That was the question. Why force kids to read Shakespeare? Another short story? Learn to write in an academic style? Teach the history of English? Explain (poorly) what transformational grammar was? Memorize a great passage of literature?
My ultimate personal answer To enlarge the soul. I’m sure many would say that’s bullshit too.
Well, maybe. But it’s better bullshit than the faceless bureaucrat in cubicle A shovels over daily to the faceless bureaucrat in Cubicle B inside the typical Office Space, right? You got the memo, right?
In short, my bullshit is better than your bullshit.
That Bullshit jobs article that appeared in 2013 was illuminating to me and confirmed my gut instinct that bullshit is the dirty fuel that runs much of the western world. As a former high school and college English teacher I spent many an hour contemplating why I was teaching what I was teaching. Was it valuable or was it bullshit? That was the question. Why force kids to read Shakespeare? Another short story? Learn to write in an academic style? Teach the history of English? Explain (poorly) what transformational grammar was? Memorize a great passage of literature?
My ultimate personal answer To enlarge the soul. I’m sure many would say that’s bullshit too.
Well, maybe. But it’s better bullshit than the faceless bureaucrat in cubicle A shovels over daily to the faceless bureaucrat in Cubicle B inside the typical Office Space, right? You got the memo, right?
In short, my bullshit is better than your bullshit.
what one anonymous source 'told' ron susskind, who has had a history of making things uo,
`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, or attracted much sustained inquiry. In consequence, 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, we have no theory...''
Harry Frankfurt, ``On Bullshit,'' _Raritan_ VI:2 Fall 1986 pp.88-90
Raritan back in the day was great, Vicki Hearne, On Bullshit, Stanley Cavell, Richard Poirier, John Hollander. It turned lefty but maybe it will come back someday. Subscriber since V1 no.1, just renewed yesterday for another 2 years.
"Stupid thing for Wittgenstein or anyone else to get exercised over."
But it's exactly what philosophers do. To declare it stupid is to identify yourself as someone not cut out for philosophy.
Go to the link to my old blog post. It shows what Frankfurt did with the Wittgenstein anecdote.
But it's exactly what philosophers do. To declare it stupid is to identify yourself as someone not cut out for philosophy.
Mathematics is better than philosophy.
Fish don't know that they're swimming in water. The same observation holds true about leftists and bullshit....I didn't read the Frankfurt book. Did he have any pointed observations about the Clintons. Their personas never rejected bullshit as a foreign body. Bullshit was part of their DNA. You could never tell where the bullshit ended and the Clintons began.
Bullshit, horseshit, chickenshit, whales hit.
Didn't professor Carlin have a routine he did on all the different kinds of shit we use to decribe things?
Are "chickenshit" and "petty bullshit" the same thing?
John Henry
"@Althouse, you do get that the 'reality-based community' community does not include any Democrats nor any other individual who is sufficiently far to the left of center."
Big Mike: Bravo! A great example of bullshit!
Buckwheathikes has it correct. Bullshitters usually just want to sell you something or stroke their own ego. Liars want to get away with something. Gaslighters want to run your life, to enslave you. Gaslighters are criminals. Cf. New York Times, CNN, et al.
It's not typical of philosophers. The usual reaction is no longer particularly interested in that person, not impatience.
And you can read a dog.
Wittgenstein said that if a lion could talk, we could not understand him. First, that's wrong: lions do talk and their trainers do understand them. Second, Wittgenstein probably actually meant the lion as himself. Anyway those are Vicki Hearne's thoughts (Animal Happiness, Wittgenstein's Lion). Showing how women could do philosophy if they wanted to, but not imitating men.
Only Republicans ever lie. It's kind of astonishing, really. I mean, what are the odds?
Only Republicans ever have bad motives. That too is amazing.
A thinking person might come to the conclusion that if they felt that to be successful they needed to lie about things, and if they felt that to be successful, they needed to do it at the expense of other people, or in contravention of laws and morality, the best way to do this would be to become a Democrat, and therefore have bulletproof protection from the media/entertainment complex. But that NEVER happens.
Look at Joe Biden. What an honest soul. Loving father and grandfather. Same with Bill and Hillary, never a thought for themselves. These are the kinds of people, cut from the cloth of saints, who become Democrats. I am so glad that they are putting all of their effective political opposition in jail. It's about time that the good Americans took a stand! This is what our American Revolution was about, democracy!
W sold a lot of books. His 2000 (s)election fueled the popularity of “The Emerging Democratic Majority,” perhaps the most consequential book of the century to date.
But a "gaslighter" ... he not only knows the truth, he's actively trying to prevent you from learning the truth and works to get you to believe the falsity with your own eyes.
@Buckwheathikes, you mean gaslighting like at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, which has a plaque dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, the Democrat President?
"'Stupid thing for Wittgenstein or anyone else to get exercised over.'
But it's exactly what philosophers do. To declare it stupid is to identify yourself as someone not cut out for philosophy."
You say that like it's a bad thing...
I, for one, don't really expect anyone except bullshitters in todays celebrity, political and social elite. What I object to is that they walk their bullshit around on stilts, acting like it is better for that spectacle, somehow.
@Cookie (10:35), it’s not as though you would recognize reality if it jumped up and squirted cider in your ear.
“Bullshit” is a good enough term for an administration for whom everything is spin, every statement uttered for the purpose of manipulating you into drawing the conclusion they want you to draw, without a care or concern about the facts of the situation. But I prefer Joe Rogan’s alternative, “horseshit.” It adds a hint of ridiculousness to their campaign of lies.
The previous post on Wittgenstein was great. So I looked him up in Wikipedia. What an amazing family. One of his brothers, Paul, became a concert pianist despite losing an arm in World War I. And to tie this to the post on JCO - when he was dying, 4 of his former students traveled to see him. “Just before losing consciousness for the last time on 28 April, he told [his doctor’s wife] Joan, ‘Tell them I've had a wonderful life’.”
You didn't add the tag, but "civility bullshit" is one of the first things I think of when I think of the expletive.
Big Mike said...@Althouse, you do get that the “reality-based community” community does not include any Democrats nor any other individual who is sufficiently far to the left of center.
Sure it does, that’s why it’s reality-based and not just reality. Like “based on a true story” means it’s not true.
Before Trump, there was Shrub, I mean, Bush. And the Left suffered psychological injury by his mere existence. And if, say, DeSantis is elected, the same articles about hystetical trauma will be dusted off withe names changed.
From Mel Brooks History of the World:
"Name."
"Comicus."
"What are you?"
"A stand-up philosopher."
"Oh, a bullshitter. Did you bullshit yesterday?"
"No."
"Did you try to bullshit yesterday?"
It's almost like politicians took Frankfurt's book as a how-to manual. The bullshitting since then has been more and more outrageous. It makes me wonder if Athenian politicos attended the Socratic/Platonic grove just to learn the cheap sophistry tricks that Socrates was showing as logically fallacious.
@Buckwheathikes, you mean gaslighting like at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, which has a plaque dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, the Democrat President?
This will upset me (and remember the proper term for a "Democrat President" is "Democratic President") when you can find any plaque, or other acknowledgement, at Louisiana State University, of their first superintendent. And you are gaslighting yourself. The actual inscription reads "This building is dedicated to public service honoring the memory of Abraham Lincoln Democrat".
Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand, for Paul Wittgenstein
But the words a person says aren't literally bullshit. That would be strange, smelly, and impossible. There is a certain blitheness about truth in this expression.
Elwood Blues: I took the liberty of bullshitting you, okay?
Jake Blues: You lied to me.
Elwood: It wasn't a lie, it was just -- [shrugs] bullshit.
“'Bullshit' is a good enough term for an administration for whom everything is spin, every statement uttered for the purpose of manipulating you into drawing the conclusion they want you to draw, without a care or concern about the facts of the situation".
And how, in this dimension, is this administration any different from any other administration of the past several decades, (at least)?
Freder apparently has some reading comprehension issues. Bless your heart, Freder, you be you.
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