Bullshit Essay

501 Words3 Pages
Bullshit is Foolish, deceitful, or boastful language. In the essay On Bullshit Harry Frankfurt gives the definition of Humbug from the essay by Max Black, The Prevalence of Humbug. In the essay Black’s definition is “Humbug: deceptive misrepresentation, short of lying, especially by pretentious word or deed, of somebody’s own thoughts, feelings, or attitudes.” According to Frankfurt this definition is very similar to bullshit. Frankfurt goes on to discuss the different elements of this definition to help understand the meaning of bullshit as well. He begins by discussing deceptive misrepresentation. To me this is one of the main keys to understanding the difference between bullshit and lying. Frankfurt states that this misrepresentation is deliberate. Bullshit is a statement with a hidden agenda. It is not merely just a lie, but also a statement with different motives. For example, turn on your television and watch the commercials. Commercials are always claiming that they want you to buy their products because they care about you, or they strongly believe it will work out for you but in reality all they want to do is sell a lot of their products so they can make more money. There are always lies an alternative motive behind what they are saying in the commercials. Also, Men will tell a female anything they want to hear, claiming they like and care about their feelings but in reality all they want is to get in their pants. Frankfurt also discusses what “short of lying” means within the definition. What I understood from this was that humbug is not a lie, yet not a truth. This goes back to the statement of misrepresentation and alternative motives. Bullshit is not a lie, yet you are also not being truthful either. Bullshit begins when the truth no longer matters. When we are lying, we are trying to keep the truth from being told. With bullshit, the truth doesn’t
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