On Bullshit
What made me want to read this?
To be honest, it was the title that got me curious at first. It is a relatively short book. Published in 2005, based on an essay published around 1986, by an American philosopher, Harry G. Frankfurt. The book analyses and attempts to define the concept of ‘bullshit’ in the context of communication.
The book defines bullshit as something different from lying. For one to lie, they need to know the truth, in order for them to say something that is different from the truth and pass it as the truth. On the other hand, those who ‘bullshit’ are the ones that are not concern about the truthiness of their statement. Bullshit comes when we aren't concerned with the truth anymore.
‘Bullshiters’ are indifferent to whether what they say is true or whether it is false.
It is remarkable that Harry G. Frankfurt had observed this phenomenon from the late 80s and wrote the book in 2005 about how widespread ‘bullshit’ is in modern society, and it appears that it is getting worse now.
We live in an era where having an opinion is more important than seeking what is truthful.
(Harry G. Frankfurt did have a follow-up book published a year later titled, On Truth)