During my graduate studies several years ago, I spent a summer studying philosophy at a Benedictine monastery. In the foyer of one of their administration buildings, the monks had a mini-library of assorted magazines on various topics and categories of life. One afternoon I took a break from my studies, went down to the lobby to flip through and read some of the periodicals. One was an Ecology magazine. There was a quote from an article in that magazine that has stayed with me all these years. I do not remember the title nor the author of the article but the quote goes something like this: [Read more…] about Nature, the Forest and Three Types of People in the World
Philosophy
Harry G. Frankfurt “On Bullshit” – the Opposite of Authenticity and the Enemy of Truth
Harry G. Frankfurt “On Bullshit” – the Opposite of Authenticity and the Enemy of Truth
I recently took a training course on quality management, and this book was recommended by the instructor. On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt is a short philosophical analysis and theoretical understanding on the meaning of bullshit. The resource for the definition comes from the essay, “The Prevalence of Humbug,” by Max Black, Cornell University Press, 1985 (p. 4). Humbug is defined as a deceptive misrepresentation, short of lying, especially by pretentious word or deed, of somebody’s own thoughts, feelings or attitudes (p.6). Humbug is synonymous with bullshit.
In a similar vein, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines bull as “trivial, insincere, or untruthful talk or writing; nonsense.” Even further, the Urban Dictionary defines bullshit as “a blatant lie, a fragrant untruth, an obvious fallacy.”
For the author, the essence of bullshit is a lack of connection with the truth. There is an indifference to how things really are. Bullshit smells of phoniness and an inferiority to that which is genuine. Yet, people tend to be more tolerant of bullshit than of lying. Our culture has so much bullshit, we think we can easily recognize it. Yet, we have no clear understanding of what it is. According to Frankfurt, for both lying and in telling the truth, people are guided by their principles or belief systems. Bullshit ignores these principles and becomes the enemy of truth. [Read more…] about Harry G. Frankfurt “On Bullshit” – the Opposite of Authenticity and the Enemy of Truth
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