Harry Frankfurt Quotes About Bullshit

• The bullshitter is neither on the side of the true or the side of the false. His eye is not on the facts at all. He does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Truth, Lying, Philosophy

  "Donald Rumsfeld Hasn't Learned a Damn Thing" by James G. Blight and Janet M. Lang, www.politico.com. April 04, 2014.

• Bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Lying, Bullshit, Enemy

  Harry G. Frankfurt (2009). “On Bullshit”, Princeton University Press

• One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Bullshit, Culture, Features

  "On Bullshit". Book by Harry Frankfurt, 2005.

• Bullshit is unavoidable when circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about. Thus, the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person's obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic. This discrepancy is common in public life, where people are frequently impelled-whether by their own propensities or by the demands of others - to speak extensively about matters of which they are to some degree ignorant.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Honesty, Opportunity, Talking

• Someone who lies and someone who tells the truth are playing on opposite sides, so to speak, in the same game. Each responds to the facts as he understands them, although the response of the one is guided by the authority of the truth, while the response of the other defies that authority and refuses to meet its demands. The bullshitter ignores these demands altogether. He does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Liars, Lying, Opposites

• It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Lying, Thinking, Bullshit

  Harry G. Frankfurt (1988). “The Importance of What We Care About: Philosophical Essays”, p.130, Cambridge University Press

• Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstance require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Talking, Knowing, Bullshit

  Harry G. Frankfurt (1988). “The Importance of What We Care About: Philosophical Essays”, p.132, Cambridge University Press

• One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern, or attracted much sustained inquiry. In consequence, we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves.

  Harry Frankfurt

  Taken, People, Bullshit

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