Harry G. Frankfurt: Too Much Bullshit is Being Spoken
Too much bullshit is simply being spoken – in talk shows, on social media, in interviews with politicians and self-proclaimed experts. But what is bullshit actually? Harry G. Frankfurt has dealt with this topic some time ago. Still very worth reading. Here comes one of the core statements:
“Bullshit is always avoidable when circumstances force people to talk about things they don’t understand. The production of bullshit is thus stimulated when a person is put in a situation or even obliged to talk about a topic that exceeds his knowledge of the facts relevant to the topic. This discrepancy is often found in public life, where people – of their own accord or at the request of others – often feel compelled to elaborate on subjects they know little about. In the same direction is the widespread belief that in a democracy the citizen is obliged to develop opinions on all possible topics or at least on all those questions that are of importance for public affairs. The lack of any significant connection between a person’s opinions and his knowledge of reality becomes even more serious in a person who considers it his duty as a morally thinking being to judge events and conditions in all parts of the world.”
– The American philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt in his book “Bullshit”, pages 45/46, Suhrkamp Verlag, 2014
