On " On Bullshit "

" On Bullshit " is a well-known essay by philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt. Princeton University Press for some reason published it as a tiny book, but you can enter the title into your favorite Internet search engine and find a free PDF. It ' s only about 20 pages if you care to read.But you don ' t have to. Frankfurt ' s basic concept is that the difference between lying and bullshit begins with recognizing that a liar knowingly utters (in speech or writing) falsehood. Being aware of the difference between truth and fiction and concerned that the audience may detect deception, the liar must use artifice to align his or her representation with facts otherwise known. In this way, the liar pays honor to truth.In contrast the bullshitter does not care about truth. He (most likely) may not even know it. A common occasion for bullshit is ignorance. The bullshitter just says whatever is useful, whether to make himself appear not to be ignorant or for some further end. But the bullshitter may also know on some level that his representations are false. It just doesn ' t matter. He makes no attempt to align his bullshit with evidence because he presumes that his audience doesn ' t care either, or won ' t be bothered to investigate. This is what is really happening with what the Washington Post fact checkers label as Donald Trump ' s 15 daily lies. They are actually bullshit. Does he believe that his inaugural crowd was the biggest ever, that there were 3 million fraudulent votes cast fo...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs