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| On Bullshit | 
| Author: Harry G. Frankfurt
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $4.50
You Save: $5.45 (55%)
New (62) Collectible (1) from $4.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  173 reviews
Sales Rank: 4747
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 80
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 4.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0691122946
Dewey Decimal Number: 177.3
UPC: 218681122946
EAN: 9780691122946
ASIN: 0691122946
Publication Date: January 10, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New!
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| Customer Reviews:
Cumbersome June 12, 2008
This essay is educational but not engaging. I hesitate to level this criticism at such a "renowned moral philosopher," but I feel slighted for paying ten dollars for what I (incorrectly) assumed would at least be somewhat witty. Frankfurt does parse meanings with great care, but his academic style of writing is nothing if not cumbersome. He ultimately leads the reader to a better understanding of b***s***, distinguishing it from lying and a genuine concern for the truth. For that insight, though, I should have just borrowed the book from the library.
 Thin and Expensive but interesting March 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is a quick and interesting read. The book isn't only insightful, but I also like the writing style. Yes, we are surrounded with BS, and I agree with the author that BS is probably bigger enemy of the truth than outright lies. At the same time, BS is so prevalent in our society nowadays that it is almost impossible to escape it, no matter where you go.
I think that the price is a little high to pay for 80 pages. But, on the other hand, it is comparable to the cost of coffee and a snack in an average cafeteria, so it is worth the fun.
I also recommend Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini
 Eternally Grateful January 15, 2008
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
I shall be eternally grateful that the incomprehensible cosmic forces that influence us all happened to guide me to read this essay by Professor Harry G. Frankfurt. They could have made me sit through one of his lectures, or even worse, had him corner me at some cocktail party!.
Have we been "had"? January 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've never written a book review in my life, but I couldn't resist with this one. It was given to me by a friend who was intrigued by the title. It's a quick read, but by the middle it became like slogging through mud. If it had been longer, I would have stopped reading and written it off. I also fully expected the last paragraph to say something along the lines of, "Congratulations! You have now spent money on, read, and thought seriously about a professional work of BS".
This little essay had some good points and thoughts that made me laugh in reference to the political scene, and a story about a father telling his son that it was never necessary to lie if you could BS your way through something. Still,in the end I was left wondering whether the author had written a serious essay or whether the entire point was to expect his audience to just "get" the fact that they'd just been BS'd by a pro! Read it in this light and see what you think.
 He's missed an aspect of BS October 31, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
People seem to think that Frankfurt is either (1) putting us all on, or (2) forging a serious discussion about BS. Let me propose that the two possiblities are not mutually exclusive. By analogy, modern art is serious, overall, but anyone who misses the comedy in a lot of it is missing something essential.
Whatever the intent, Frankfurt misses a key element of BS. To me at least, BS is emphatically *not* simply talking about something you know nothing about. This requires a certain skill, but there is a subtler and more noteworthy aspect to BS. It is the art or act of discoursing on something you know *something* about, but not as much as you would like your audience to think you do. This aspect of BS is everywhere--politics, business, education. Relationships. You name it. Expanding on a theme. BSing in this sense can be a good thing in that it will draw out more information from those who have it; or it can be a bad thing when the fakery stands.
Years ago my son called home from his Ivy League location to say, "Pop, I can't figure this out. There are kids here who come up with great things in class, and I can never think of anything to say. But when it comes time for a test or a paper, I do much better than them."
I recounted this conversation to one of my old professors, and he said, "This is common. We even have a name for it: small school syndrome." My son hadn't had as many bright kids around him in class in high school, and he hadn't quite learned the art of BS-ing, I would say. The kind of BS-ing that Frankfurt doesn't pay enough attention to.
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