Frankfurt

So yesterday I was in Borders cruising the philosophy section, as I am sometimes known to do, when I found a copy of an essay written by Harry G. Frankfurt, of Frankfurt Example fame, entitled On Bullshit. I immediately knew that I had to pick it up. So I did. Blunt title aside, the essay is basically a philosophical examination of rhetoric, specifically bullshit as opposed to humbug or balderdash. Frankfurt's main thesis is that while bullshit need not be false, it is in fact more dangerous to the truth than lying, for the liar at least acknowledges that there is some truth out there, even if he or she denies it, while the bullshit artist doesn't care about the truth one way or the other. A most interesting and at times amusing little book, I highly recommend it to anyone who is either interested in philosophy, or rhetoric. It certainly prompted me to look at my own bullshit in a new light, that's for certain.