The #1 New York Times bestseller that explains why bullshit is far
more dangerous than lying 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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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400826537
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter