Philosophy

On Bullshit

On Bullshit

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  • Create Date：2021-08-27 04:53:54
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Harry G. Frankfurt
  • ISBN：0691122946
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Summary

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。

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Reviews

Michael Martin ，

This is a great day read that truly comes together in the conclusion。 The author starts the books slow with different definitions such as “bull” and “bull session” to create a great foundation that helps understand his points。 This book did a great job at articulating the difference between bullshit， lying， and truth。 My only quarrel with this book is the seemingly sluggish pace in the first 30 or so pages。 Yet it is short and truly worth reading！

Maddy Grimm ，

I purchased a copy of this book for my grandmother， as it stuck out to me as a cute little book with a smart title。 I will admit that I am very critical of this book， as it is not my usual genre preference。 Out of curiosity， I had read some Goodreads reviews on Harry G。 Frankfurt's 'On Bullshit。' I felt that many had overrated this book， a number of these applying the author's themes to current political situations。 I felt that this book met the equivalent of a graduate sociology paper， with muc I purchased a copy of this book for my grandmother， as it stuck out to me as a cute little book with a smart title。 I will admit that I am very critical of this book， as it is not my usual genre preference。 Out of curiosity， I had read some Goodreads reviews on Harry G。 Frankfurt's 'On Bullshit。' I felt that many had overrated this book， a number of these applying the author's themes to current political situations。 I felt that this book met the equivalent of a graduate sociology paper， with much of its content being common sense。 Again， although I am critical， this is not my cup of tea， but it seemingly may be enjoyable to a more politically opinionated audience。 。。。more

Bent Andreassen ，

Interesting essay that also handle lies and the difference between lies and what is called bullshit。

Kelsey ，

I just read this because the title made me laugh。 It ended up being pretty interesting， however。

George ，

Funny how it actually took me less than an hour to read。 And it contains so much interesting thoughts for such a small book。 :-）Highly recommended， but not for speed read as I did。 Books like this should be read on an lazy evening， by a fireplace with a good glass of scotch。 Or at a porch overlooking mountains and valleys。 On locations that would allow you to think about what's written deeply。 And remember to what else this relates to it。 Key takeaway？ （view spoiler）[Sincerity itself is bullshit Funny how it actually took me less than an hour to read。 And it contains so much interesting thoughts for such a small book。 :-）Highly recommended， but not for speed read as I did。 Books like this should be read on an lazy evening， by a fireplace with a good glass of scotch。 Or at a porch overlooking mountains and valleys。 On locations that would allow you to think about what's written deeply。 And remember to what else this relates to it。 Key takeaway？ （view spoiler）[Sincerity itself is bullshit。 （hide spoiler）] ;-） 。。。more

Saeedeh Z ，

ترجمه کتاب بد بود، و به نظرم به جای این کتاب اگر یک کتاب تفکر نقادانه میخوندم بهتر بود。

Susan Dietz ，

Quick read through history of bull， hen talk and distinction between lies and bullshit。

Simon ，

It's a very short and interesting read。 It's an essay trying to define what bullshit is， and how it is different from lying。 Three stars because it felt the author read building towards something eye-opening， but there is no payoff in the end。 For no additional insight， the author cut have been more succinct。 It's a very short and interesting read。 It's an essay trying to define what bullshit is， and how it is different from lying。 Three stars because it felt the author read building towards something eye-opening， but there is no payoff in the end。 For no additional insight， the author cut have been more succinct。 。。。more

Grace Ennis ，

Read for my dissertation on Brexit and Boris Johnson！

Zac Gibson ，

I still don't know how I feel about this book。。。 It's like a guy at a bar trying to give you life advice but you can barely hear him because the music is too loud。I like the book I just feel like I'm not smart enough to love the book。 I still don't know how I feel about this book。。。 It's like a guy at a bar trying to give you life advice but you can barely hear him because the music is too loud。I like the book I just feel like I'm not smart enough to love the book。 。。。more

Jorg ，

Is this a joke trying to pass as seriousness or a facetious but deep truth or both？ The last， most likely， but do not treat likely the fundamental distinction between bullshit and lies， or the final absolutely correct claim that "sincerity itelf is bullshit"。 Is this a joke trying to pass as seriousness or a facetious but deep truth or both？ The last， most likely， but do not treat likely the fundamental distinction between bullshit and lies， or the final absolutely correct claim that "sincerity itelf is bullshit"。 。。。more

Grace Sell ，

Funny and fitting， a ridiculous read on lunch breaks

citrusmatcha ，

Reading this book feels like a taster of what a Philosopher does， a bite size read that is neither too easy nor too difficult to engage with。 If you’ve never been into philosophical essays， this might be one to dip your toes in 😛

Rosalie ，

Holy bullshit！

Kenzie Weitzeil ，

This was just amazing！

Massimiliano ，

Enlightening。 It could also have included some more concrete examples， especially in the second part， but after all it is a philosophical essay。

Adrienne ，

If you were expecting a book with this title to be humor， you will be disappointed。

Scott Humphries ，

A short but serious and edifying examination of a worldwide plague that mostly explores what makes BS different from lying。 Good stuff。

Keli Wright ，

Can you say meta？ Crazy little book illustrates it's topic through its very existence。 It made me laugh and taught me some stuff。 I rated it 3 because I couldn't decide between 2 and 4。 It's a good thing it wasn't longer because there's only so much bs I can take， even if it is identifiable and purposeful beyond it's fundamental usage。 Can you say meta？ Crazy little book illustrates it's topic through its very existence。 It made me laugh and taught me some stuff。 I rated it 3 because I couldn't decide between 2 and 4。 It's a good thing it wasn't longer because there's only so much bs I can take， even if it is identifiable and purposeful beyond it's fundamental usage。 。。。more

Kris ，

Just a meandering thought train on the "deep meaning" of the term bullshit。 I bought this book because it was a funny thing to have on my bookshelf。 It remains worth having for that purpose。 It's not some amazing life changing read。 It's a fun little piece of nonsense。 Truly bullshit。 Still looks great on my shelf。 Just a meandering thought train on the "deep meaning" of the term bullshit。 I bought this book because it was a funny thing to have on my bookshelf。 It remains worth having for that purpose。 It's not some amazing life changing read。 It's a fun little piece of nonsense。 Truly bullshit。 Still looks great on my shelf。 。。。more

Karen ，

I decided to buy this little book on a whim because I liked the title。 The author is the Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton， so I figured it might be worth the read。 （NoteThe essay does focus on the difference between humbug and bullshit （I am not making this up）。 Then， the author distinguishes between lying and bullshit。 If I understand his theory correctly， the person who is lying knows he is lying。 The person who is bullshitting does not care about truth。 The person only cares abou I decided to buy this little book on a whim because I liked the title。 The author is the Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton， so I figured it might be worth the read。 （NoteThe essay does focus on the difference between humbug and bullshit （I am not making this up）。 Then， the author distinguishes between lying and bullshit。 If I understand his theory correctly， the person who is lying knows he is lying。 The person who is bullshitting does not care about truth。 The person only cares about how he is being perceived。 The one point I was hoping to glean is why people are so willing to accept bullshit over lying， he left unanswered。 He said "The problem of understanding why our attitude toward bullshit is generally more benign than our attitude on lying is an important one， which I shall leave an as exercise for the reader。" Dang it。 。。。more

hing ，

so its genuinely a good work of definition but also its funny bc even when u do good work by philosophy standards its entrapped in so much bs by the sheer nature of the task。 it's a tongue in cheek piece of analysis that makes a lot of genuinely great statements while fully acknowledging its bullshitity。 the passion and fun of performing analytic philosophy despite everything you have to hate about it really pops out in this book。 so its genuinely a good work of definition but also its funny bc even when u do good work by philosophy standards its entrapped in so much bs by the sheer nature of the task。 it's a tongue in cheek piece of analysis that makes a lot of genuinely great statements while fully acknowledging its bullshitity。 the passion and fun of performing analytic philosophy despite everything you have to hate about it really pops out in this book。 。。。more

Natnael M ，

“One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit。”Here is the definition of BULLSHIT and its distinction from an honest to god LIE by Harry Frankfurt， who claims that bullshit identifies as a very specific deformity of discourse。 His analysis prompts us to focus attention on the serious and important question of why politics， in particular， produces such torrents of the stuff。 The key distinction he draws is that between the ‘bullshitter’ and the ‘liar’ is that Fr “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit。”Here is the definition of BULLSHIT and its distinction from an honest to god LIE by Harry Frankfurt， who claims that bullshit identifies as a very specific deformity of discourse。 His analysis prompts us to focus attention on the serious and important question of why politics， in particular， produces such torrents of the stuff。 The key distinction he draws is that between the ‘bullshitter’ and the ‘liar’ is that Frankfurt’s liar aims to deceive as to the truth and does so by consciously uttering a falsehood。I hits me how 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。 Now， it is of course very familiar to call politicians ‘liars’; some indeed seem to assume that they constitute a strange sub-species of humanity defined by a congenital inability， to be honest。“Our natures are， indeed， elusively insubstantial—notoriously less stable and less inherent than the nature of other things。 And insofar as this is the case， sincerity itself is bullshit。”Frankfurt also established the grave danger of bullshit， and why there is so much bullshit around。 Spoiler alert:- bullshit is unavoidable when people are convinced that they must have opinions about “events and conditions in all parts of the world”， about more or less anything and everything – so they speak quite extensively about things they know virtually nothing about。 Frankfurt is non-committal as to whether there is more bullshit around now than before， but he maintains that there is currently a great deal。“Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about。 Thus the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic。 This discrepancy is common in public life， where people are frequently impelled – whether by their own propensities or by the demands of others – to speak extensively about matters of which they are to some degree ignorant。” 。。。more

Victoria K。 ，

Harry G。 Frankfurt had too much free time in his hands。。。 This is not philosophy， it is over-analysed pretentious bullshit。 He spent 70+ pages to explain something that required not over 3， so 96% of the book is straight up nonsense。 That doesn't necessarily mean that he makes no point at all。 In all this hot mess he has some legit points but the are overshadowed by fancy language， silly irrelevant oversimplified examples and logical leaps。 Harry G。 Frankfurt had too much free time in his hands。。。 This is not philosophy， it is over-analysed pretentious bullshit。 He spent 70+ pages to explain something that required not over 3， so 96% of the book is straight up nonsense。 That doesn't necessarily mean that he makes no point at all。 In all this hot mess he has some legit points but the are overshadowed by fancy language， silly irrelevant oversimplified examples and logical leaps。 。。。more

fool girl ，

“It is understood by everyone in a bull session that the statements people make do not necessarily reveal what they really believe or how they really feel。 The main point is to make possible a high level of candor and an experimental or adventuresome approach to the subjects under discussion。 Therefore provision is made for enjoying a certain irresponsibility， so that people will be encouraged to convey what is on their minds without too much anxiety that they will be held to it。” （36–37）imagine “It is understood by everyone in a bull session that the statements people make do not necessarily reveal what they really believe or how they really feel。 The main point is to make possible a high level of candor and an experimental or adventuresome approach to the subjects under discussion。 Therefore provision is made for enjoying a certain irresponsibility， so that people will be encouraged to convey what is on their minds without too much anxiety that they will be held to it。” （36–37）imagine trying to get away with this in 2021 lmao rip “Someone who ceases to believe in the possibility of identifying certain statements as true and others as false can have only two alternatives。 The first is to desist both from efforts to tell the truth and from efforts to deceive。 This would mean refraining from making any assertions whatever about the facts。 The second alternative is to continue making assertions that purport to describe the way things are， but that cannot be anything except bullshit。” （61–62）*side-eyes a particular subset of postmodern theory*“Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about。 Thus the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic。 This discrepancy is common in public life， where people are frequently impelled—whether by their own propensities or by the demands of others—to speak extensively about matters of which they are to some degree ignorant。 Closely related instances arise from the widespread conviction that it is the responsibility of a citizen in a democracy to have opinions about everything， or at least everything that pertains to his country’s affairs。 The lack of any significant connection between a person’s opinions and his apprehension of reality will be even more severe， needless to say， for someone who believes it is his responsibility， as a conscientious moral agent， to evaluate events and conditions in all parts of the world。” （63-64）*side-eyes twitter* “The contemporary proliferation of bullshit also has deeper sources， in various forms of skepticism which deny that we can have any reliable access to an objective reality， and which therefore reject the possibility of knowing how things truly are。 These ‘antirealist’ doctrines undermine confidence in the value of disinterested efforts to determine what is true and what is false， and even in the intelligibility of the notion of objective inquiry。 One response to this loss of confidence has been to retreat from the discipline required by dedication to the ideal of correctness to a quite different sort of discipline， which is imposed by pursuit of an alternative ideal of sincerity。 Rather than seeking primarily to arrive at accurate representations of a common world， the individual turns toward trying to provide honest representations of himself。 Convinced that reality has no inherent nature， which he might hope to identify as the truth about things， he devotes himself to being true to his own nature。 It is as though he decides that since it makes no sense to try to be true to the facts， he must therefore try instead to be true to himself。“But it is preposterous to imagine that we ourselves are determinate， and hence susceptible both to correct and to incorrect descriptions， while supposing that the ascription of determinacy to anything else has been exposed as a mistake。 As conscious beings， we exist only in response to other things， and we cannot know ourselves at all without knowing them。 Moreover there is nothing in theory， and certainly nothing in experience， to support the extraordinary judgement that it is the truth about himself that is the easiest for a person to know。 Facts about ourselves are not peculiarly solid and resistant to skeptical dissolution。 Our natures are， indeed， elusively insubstantial—notoriously less stable and less inherent than the natures of other things。 And insofar as this is the case， sincerity itself is bullshit。” （64–67）It’s worth acknowledging that the term sincerity can also describe the internalized performance of and conformity to social roles that are imposed upon us by external structures （particularly the family） rather than simply the expression of one’s individual beliefs about oneself。 But ignoring that terminological ambiguity for a moment， what he seems to be suggesting is the emergence of a particular kind of solipsism: only I can know myself， the true state of external things is unknown to me; as a thing external to you， I am unknowable to you， and so you must take me at my word just as I must I take you at yours （if we can even go so far as to do that）。 Our being is secondary， made subordinate to our thoughts about it。 Instead of making up our own minds about people， their opinion of themselves would seem to take precedence: people can only know others insofar as others know themselves。 In other words， the accuracy of our outward perception is limited to another’s self-perception， and that hardly seems to correspond to one's actual experiences。 And as a judge-y asshole， well， that simply will not do。 The endless loop of interaction between external and internal selves， material worlds and immaterial thoughts， can never satisfactorily be untangled。 Why would anyone ever think to do so in the first place？ Maybe it’s because I’m quite fond of Heidegger’s notion of thrownness， but there are many things we can't escape from—out in the world as well as in ourselves。 。。。more

Liquidlasagna ，

Eg Theory Book reviewOn Frankfurt’s Truth and BullshitI want to briefly summarize my reading of Frankfurt’s position。 And then I’ll focus on a particular shortcoming: I don’t think Frankfurt focuses enough on how and what for Truth is used in practice。 From the perspective of their relationship to investigation and inquiry， Truth and Bullshit start to seem much less distinct than Frankfurt makes them。 And both start to look like the negative force — although in the case of Truth: sometimes a nec Eg Theory Book reviewOn Frankfurt’s Truth and BullshitI want to briefly summarize my reading of Frankfurt’s position。 And then I’ll focus on a particular shortcoming: I don’t think Frankfurt focuses enough on how and what for Truth is used in practice。 From the perspective of their relationship to investigation and inquiry， Truth and Bullshit start to seem much less distinct than Frankfurt makes them。 And both start to look like the negative force — although in the case of Truth: sometimes a necessary negative。First， I am not sure if these two works should really count as books; they are basically 20 page essays reformatted with big font， wide margins， and small pages to make cute booklets。However， since I picked them up at Barnes & Nobles as books， I thought that I would classify them as such。 The former was originally published as an essay in 1986 and after its repackaging as a book it reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list。This motivated the latter as a follow up。Frankfurt observes that our life is full of bullshit， and sets out to provide an analysis and definition of the phenomena。He summarizes his finding at the start of the second book: “bullshitters， although they represent themselves as being engaged simply in conveying information， are not engaged in that enterprise at all。”In this deception， they have a commonality with liars， but “what they care about primarily… is whether what they say is effective in accomplishing this manipulation。 Correspondingly， they are more or less indifferent to whether what they say is true or whether it is false。”This indifference is not shared by the liar who must keep an eye on the truth in order to mislead you。As such， Frankfurt believes that the bullshitter is more dangerous to society than the liar。He avoids pinning down exactly what he means by truth， suggesting that the common sense notion — by which， at my most generous reading， I assume he means something like Sellars’ manifest image — will do。Unsurprisingly， he doesn’t only see truth as important but follows Spinoza to the conclusion that anybody who values their life must also （maybe unknowingly） love truth。"Civilizations have never gotten along healthily， and cannot get along healthily， without large quantities of reliable factual information。 They cannot flourish if they are beset with troublesome infections of mistaken beliefs。 To establish and to sustain an advanced culture， we need to avoid being debilitated either by error or by ignorance。"The above statement is certainly effective in manipulating me to believe in the value of truth。 However， it is also sufficiently vague as to make it impossible to test whether what Frankfurt says is true or whether it is false。Certainly the adaptive nature of positive illusions or our work on religion and the social interface theory might hint toward falsehood。But a sufficiently slippery definition of truth can hint truth。The real issue is that Frankfurt presents a straw-man of people who deflate or question capital-T ‘Truth’ as an organizing principle。The whole point of pragmatic approaches to the question is to eliminate Truth as a category in favour of that with lets us avoid error and provide flourishing。As such， they can agree with Frankfurt’s claim above without attributing it to ‘Truth’。 In fact， they might point to very useful and cohesion enhancing beliefs that would not be Truth for Frankfurt。If we are to think about Truth then I think we need to think about how Truth is used in practice。In the real world。From my experience， it isn’t static Truth that enables advances or lets us escape error and ignorance。Rather， it is dynamic Investigation。 Truth’s job， instead， is to end investigation and inquiry。 To say “this case is done， let’s move on”。Sometimes this is an important thing to do。 Not everything needs to be debated。 Not everything needs to be investigated。 And not everything needs to be questioned。 There have to be priorities。 And in this regard Truth can be useful。。。。。。。。。。。I think this also lets us better understand bullshit。One of the practical uses of bullshit is usually the same as the practical use of Truth: stop investigation and inquiry。Except whereas in using Truth as our stop requires some due diligence and wondering about if the point in question is a reasonable place to stop。And sometime even gives us a means to potentially resume investigation later。 Bullshit lets us avoid this。But both end investigation。。。。。。。。。。。A tempting dissimilarity between Truth and Bullshit’s relationship to Investigation might be their role in motivating investigation。A common position for Truth， and one that Frankfurt takes throughout， is that a desire for Truth can motivate us to investigate。So from my anti-Frankfurt perspective: even if Truth itself is a — at times desirable and necessary — negative， it’s motivation role is a positive。But I don’t think this is that different from Bullshit。At least from the garden-hose of misinformation kind of bullshit。From the merchants of doubt kind of bullshit。One of the safety mechanisms built into our notion of Truth is that if we get two conflicting ‘truths’ then we should restart investigation to resolve the contradiction。This is what bullshit can capitalize on if instead of stopping investigation， it wants to start it。By throwing enough disinformation at us， it becomes difficult to know what to believe。This can prompt us to investigate。 However， since we are so conditioned on truth and mostly bad at actually carrying out investigations， this often ends up with us just arbitrarily picking the most comfortable — or most repeated or easily accessible — set of propositions as our static set。In the end， I don’t think the line between Bullshit and Truth is nearly as clear cut as Frankfurt makes it。In particular， if we focus on the uses to which we put both concepts。 And without focusing on this practical aspect， I think that Frankfurt fails to engage with the more interesting challenges to capital-T ‘Truth’。But these are my recollections from a pair of books I read 4 years ago。 So I might have forgotten some of the nuance of Frankfurt’s position。 。。。more

Fr。 Nicholas Blackwell， O。 Carm。 ，

I read this out loud in the car for over one hour for all of us to hear。 It was very deep and insightful on what it means to be a person that lives in relationship to truth， whether one prefers to be a liar or indifferent to truth。 He also addresses the issue of sincerity in relation to the title of the book。

Julia ，

Excellent！！

Alessandro Vescovini ，

Interesting essay on the bullshit and the reason it spreads

Alex Memus ，

It is just this lack of connection to a concern with truth— this indifference to how things really are—that I regard as of the essence of bullshit。 One response to this loss of confidence has been a retreat from the discipline required by dedication to the ideal of correctness to a quite different sort of discipline， which is imposed by pursuit of an alternative ideal of sincerity。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=On Bullshit

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=On Bullshit&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,On Bullshit&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0