Comments on: On Bullshit

By: Down and Out In Saigon

Down and Out In Saigon — Wed, 18 May 2005 10:22:22 +0000

So what is the relation between the book itself, and the Wayback Machine link supplied by Michael Turner? If they’re the same thing, then John Dolan is right on the money: it’s bad. The author engages in a long, meandering, monotonous, dreary conversation with himself, and then grouches about moral relativism. It’s not even academic. I mean: where are the footnotes and references and whatnot?

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 17 May 2005 14:12:29 +0000

But as we know, Frankfurt’s not concerned about his relative position. He just wants his book to be bought by enough people.

By: abb1

abb1 — Tue, 17 May 2005 08:49:34 +0000

Review of "On Bullshit" by John Dolan: Post-Bullshitist Bullshit. Enjoy.

By: Cryptic Ned

Cryptic Ned — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:57:13 +0000

What the book is, Keith, is a philosophical lecture, delivered by a philosopher to a conference of other philosophers twenty years ago; published with a group of the philosopher’s essays; and recently published again as a small book. It’s not intended to be “inciteful and worth reading”, unless you find it funny, or you’re a philosopher.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:37:52 +0000

Jon Stweart could easily write a book on Bullshit that is actually inciteful and worth reading, unlike this POS. Or perhaps the book is an object lesson and I’ve simply missed th epoint?

By: Dave Wheeler

Dave Wheeler — Mon, 16 May 2005 18:41:12 +0000

As I watched the 60 minutes segment, I couldn’t help thinking about the joke, “There must be a pony in here”. (Full joke on my blog, http://www.theshot92.blogspot.com).

By: mikez

mikez — Mon, 16 May 2005 18:23:47 +0000

I’m indifferent on the merits of this book, but I liked the fact that 60 minutes turned to John Stewart as an expert on Media B.S.

By: Dave Gwydion

Dave Gwydion — Mon, 16 May 2005 17:21:17 +0000

The Commissioning Editor was a Canadian chap called Ian Malcolm. He’s much the best philosophy and political theory editor in the business.

By: ken

ken — Mon, 16 May 2005 15:46:08 +0000

You won’t believe this. We were supposed to have Harry on Philosophy Talk, discussing his book/essay Bullshit. But because our host station is being hauled before the FCC in June on an unrelated matter, we were asked not to do it.

It’s a chilling climate out there in medialand for everything except bullshit, unfortunately.

By: Cryptic Ned

Cryptic Ned — Mon, 16 May 2005 15:43:12 +0000

What is a “commissioning editor”? Ordinarily I would assume that it was an editor who commissioned a book, but this book was written decades ago. ?

By: Kosh

Kosh — Mon, 16 May 2005 14:42:13 +0000

Combat bullshit with counter bullshit! Make an equally outrageous counter assertion based on the same logical flaw as the bullshitter’s assertion. They then can’t expose your fallacious reasoning without exposing their own. If nothing else it mocks them and really pisses them off.

By: Lisa Williams

Lisa Williams — Mon, 16 May 2005 14:38:56 +0000

I read it a few weeks ago and liked it a lot. It really hits on a lot of what bothers me about the current political atmosphere in the US: the people pushing an agenda don’t know and don’t care what the facts are, and are basically unembarrassable.

Presenting a bullshitter with the facts does no good. Showing them their behavior is shameful does no good.

Given this, it’s hard to figure out what the future of political activism—which depends mostly on disseminating facts and calls for politicians to get in line with community values like not lying, stealing, and putting the country’s good over favoring your friends.

Bullshitters also have a lot in common with cult members. Bullshit is like a force field: facts just bounce off. Bullshitters can form a completely self-satisfied and self-referential worldview that no new information can disrupt.

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Mon, 16 May 2005 14:05:09 +0000

And not yet published but already working its way up the Amazon charts (#76 today -- perhaps on the strength of referrals from "On Bullshit"?) is Laura Penny's Your Call Is Important to Us : The Truth About Bullshit

By: Michael Turner

Michael Turner — Mon, 16 May 2005 13:36:13 +0000

Save yourself the money and the shipping delays—you can get it free, now, courtesy of Google and the Wayback Machine:

http://tinyurl.com/exkcq

I’m not bullshitting you. I’m sincere. OK, OK - even sincerity is bullshit, according to this guy, so here’s my money-back guarantee: the above-linked page is a version of the (now book-length) essay. It may or may not contain more bullshit than the original. And the above is not necessarily the original either – it’s the latest link that worked (for me) in the Wayback Machine.

I’m trying really hard to tell the truth here. And it’s making me realize how hard that is. Maybe Frankfurt’s closing comment is right: sincerity is bullshit. And that makes irony more honest, doesn’t it? Works for me. And for Frankfurt, too, come to think of it: how ironic that his bullshit essay has become far more popular now that he’s trying to charge people for it.

Well, OK, my attempt at righteous indignation is bullshit. I will admit this much: if you buy the book, you get the essay in a form that’s easier to read, and, because it can sit in front of you in a cafe, it’s more likely to start conversations with members of the gender to which you happen to be attracted. Those can be features worth paying for.

By: cckey

cckey — Mon, 16 May 2005 12:43:08 +0000

a bump from parents giving the book as a graduation present?