On Bullshit

BS Exposed

Frankfurt has aptly exposed the intellectual laziness and disconcern for truth that is so prevalent in post-modern society. Far to many people have dismissed truth completely and have ignorantly embraced BS. Frankfurt has recognized this problem and has written a very clever, humorous, and much needed response.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Meditation on Lying

I have to disagree with the preceding post which suggests that this book is for the pretentious and superficially educated. This was one of the texts for a class at my University concerning the nature of truth and lies. As our Professor (who personally knows Frankfurt) informed us, this book was originally a philosophical essay by Frankfurt. He was understandably surprised when approached by a publishing company wanting to make it into a book. Yes, the publisher's aim in marketing the book is likely for the kitschy humor factor, perhaps as a gag-gift for a pseudo-intellectual friend- but that does not negate the content. The title is perhaps a throw-off, and again contributes to the pseudo-intellectual humor factor. In reality, Frankfurt is a serious philosopher and the text was not originally intended to become a novelty in book form. The companion to this book, 'On Truth', can attest to the fact.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A review of some of the reviewers

Frankfurt is saying in his book what needs to be said. And more than once. Bullshit is something we need to constantly guard against. Can't a book with a catchy title convey truth and maybe a little wisdom? And why should it matter that it fits into a pocket and is only 67 pages? If you're going to be critical, argue against something specific in the book, don't just look down your noses and make pompous pronouncements.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A hilarious book

I consider this book to be a very rich philosophical yet hilarious work, challenging in content, and gripping as a smooth read. Tou will agree with me that this book stands out as a tantalizing novel. You never guess what you will find until you start reading it. One thing for sure is that you will laugh, smile and ponder in turns. In the end, you will be more of a truthful guy than a the other type.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What is bullsh*t anyway?

That's the question this book attempts to answer. What is the difference between bullsh*t and hokum or just plain lying. While is has some funny lines, this is actually a serious examination of a very trivial topic.

Recommended but...

It's really good and really brief. Save some money and read it in a BN store.

The Title

Too long.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This essay is not b*llsh*t

However, unless you are buying it as I gift I recommend you save your $10 and take the half an hour to read it right in the store. This is fairly informative from a psychological standpoint but doesn't really shed a whole lot of light on dealing with the subject for those of us who are, or have experienced, a fair amount of b*llsh*t in our lives which as the professor conveys is all of us and probably on both sides of the coin.

Disappointing

Academic, philosophical, but not memorable.

Insightful crassness

Despite the stifled giggles this book's subject and title are sure to produce, Frankfurt gives the reader, in a very short work, a working definition of bulls&*t and why there is so much of it. Frankfurt defines it as a "lack of connection to a concern with truth- [an] indifference to how things really are..." and that the bulls*&ter's "indispensably distinctive characteristic is that in a certain way he misrepresents what he is up to." In fact, Frankfurt contends that the bulls&*ter doesn't even have to be lying! While this may seem like common knowledge, considering how much bulls*&t is out there I like it that someone has taken the time to define it. My only criticism is that with such a small work (67 pages in my edition) Frankfurt should have taken one or two more pages to summarize his previous definitions of bulls*&t. Instead, you have to search through his work to find the definitions. However, having read philosophical works by Kant and other myself, Frankfurt's exclusion of this is not wholly unexpected in my mind.

A reviewer

The book was extremely repetitive, dry and uninteresting. It was the same over and over, half of it didn't make sense. This is the first time I have purchased a book that I want to return.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Journal Article Masquerading as Book

In all due respect to the author, this book deserves no more than a space in a readers digest. Not that it wasn't reasonably written and somewhat clever, this very short book is not worth the price nor should it be linked to the other complete works by Gladwell or Surowieki.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

this book is for...

This book is for people who don't read. This is a book for people who like to pretend to represent the educated elite. Here is a 'distinguished' or 'credible' academic attempting to write an en vogue book for public consumption. The sheer pocketsize weight and shape of the book and provocative title will suggest to you that this book will look good on your coffee table to tantalize curious readers. Really, this book is for superficial people with a pretentious notion of philosophy.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

an undeveloped theory

This book was pretentious and superficial. The author did not even have the courage to BS the readers.

Exemplum Sui Generis

This book perfectly illustrates its title through its content. It's a very funny piece of fluff by an author whose credentials permit him to bowdlerize his own discipine's writing style and make a few bucks in the bargain. It's anti-pretension at its best and most readable. Besides, what could be more fun for a philosopher than quoting Wittgenstein in a tongue in cheek, ersatz treatise? Eminently readable and, to quote Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (for those who still don't get the joke), Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.

A real piece of work!

Though hardly delicate, the B-stuff must be handled with great care. When I calculated a Fog Index score for the first two pages I got 15.4. That's pretty dense. Not good at all. I also spied four out-of-town words in the 67 pages: pleonine, allusive, ascription, and procrustean. Too heavy for such an earthy subject? I think so. I counted 15 fuzzy-sounding phrases. Typical examples are: literal modes of significance, corpse of nourishment, anarchically impulsive, and pertinent mode of laxity. And consider this prize segment of a sentence:...to articulate, more or less sketchily, the structure of its concept. Say what? Translation please! With no summary, no conclusions, no headings, no real organization what did I learn for about 7 cents per page? Nothing, nada, zip. Correction! I now know what pleonine means. Procrustean? Oh, I already knew that one.

not for everyone...

This is certainly not for philosophy lovers, on the contrary, those who can't stand it but know they need it just as much as do those who can't operate without it. You can almost hand it out like a silly religious pamphlet, to those who are too busy to analyze things for long periods of time. I would call it more like 'How to smell b.s. in less than a minute'. :)

this book is for ...

This book is for people who don't read. This is a book for people who like to pretend to represent the educated elite. Here is a 'distinguished' or 'credible' academic attempting to write an en vogue book for public consumption. The sheer pocketsize weight and shape of the book and provocative title will suggest to you that this book will look good on your coffee table to tantalize curious readers. Really, this book is for superficial people with a pretentious notion of philosophy.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

In the palm of your hand

Let the buyer beware, this book fits in the palm of your hand and is only 67 pages long. I was expecting something with a little more length. Also in terms of subject matter, it's lacking substance. Contains a lot a common sense ideas masked in difficult to read sentences.

Grab a stick and jam it in your eye

Unless you really enjoy philosophy and have no idea what it means to lie, save your money. This book is exactly what it is about.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.