On Bullshit. By Harry G. Frankfurt. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005
In this slim, pithy volume, Frankfurt attempts to define bullshit and to elucidate a theoretical context for a near-ubiquitous phenomenon. The approach is tentative and exploratory, rightly so for something which is characterised by conceptual slipperiness. He seeks to relate bullshit first to humbu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2005
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| In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 2005, Volume: 19, Issue: 4, Pages: 412-414 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this slim, pithy volume, Frankfurt attempts to define bullshit and to elucidate a theoretical context for a near-ubiquitous phenomenon. The approach is tentative and exploratory, rightly so for something which is characterised by conceptual slipperiness. He seeks to relate bullshit first to humbug and then to outright lying, both of which he sees as intentional, dependent on the ‘perpetrator's state of mind’ (7). Misrepresentation of self, as opposed to factual reality, is crucial to the bullshitter: ‘What he cares about is what people think of him.’ (18) As Milton pointed out, one can be a heretic even in the truth. Frankfurt never quite squares this, however, with the ‘carelessness’ (21) that, he argues, is also a feature of bullshit. It is not ‘designed or crafted’ (21). |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/fri049 |