William Frankfurt 's Little Book On Bullshit

Although many people may like to think of America as a honest and moral nation, it is no secret that artifice has cemented itself as an indispensable skill, exploited by many to achieve their own ambitions. Artifice, characterized through the usage of cunning devices or expedients to deceive others, is often utilized by politicians and organizations to help push their own agendas. As illustrated by Chris Hedges in his social commentary, Empire of Illusion, “artifice” has emerged to become so ubiquitous and essential throughout American society, whether in business or the entertainment industry. Essential, in the essence that without it, people in any industry are more likely to be disadvantaged in achieving their personal goals. In today’s modern world, no area has seen more abuse of artifice than in the field of media and politics. Its common knowledge that newspapers skew reports to their own biases and politicians often tell half-truths to cover-up ulterior motives. Unfortunately, these politicians and media giants hold extremely influential positions in society, and their usage of artifice is extremely damaging to the integrity and accountability within the United States. As a result, the press as well as the general populace must utilize free speech to expose this behavior. Despite the complete immorality of the usage of artifice, such chicanery remains essential for success in media and politics.

In the essay The Ways We Lie, author Stephanie Ericsson writes in depth about the different types of lies used by most people everyday. While listing examples of them, Ericsson questions her own experiences with lying and whether or not it was appropriate. By using hypothetical situations, true accounts, and personal occurrences, she highlights the moral conflicts and consequences that are a result of harmless fibs or impactful deceptions. In an essay detailing the lies told to ourselves and others, Ericsson points out one bold truth; everyone lies. Through her writing, Ericsson causes the reader to look into how they’ve lied in the past and how to effects others and the general greater good of society.

In Cross’s opinion, she believes people are bamboozled by propaganda because they fail to recognize when they experience it (248). The thirteen propaganda methods Cross describes in this essay include the following: Name-Calling, Glittering Generalities, Plain-Folks Appeal, Arguementum Ad Populum (Stroking),

"Each trick crumples in the end as a result of the mental probability that the individuals who are superlatively sharp at beguiling others turn out to be similarly astute at misdirecting themselves. Disinformation eats the individuals who make it."

Lies, they're everywhere, are they worth the trouble? Throughout these three articles, “It’s the truth”, “Honestly tell the truth”, and “Rejecting all lies”, the authors precisely analyze who agrees, and who doesn’t agree with lying, and why. Lying may be the first thing to come to mind when in a bad situation, but does anyone realize how much damage it can cause towards the other person or to the liar themselves?

The Stages of Deception used as a way of Persuasion and the thought of Hope

On the 7th of January in 1777, General George Washington with the Continental Army arrived at Morristown, New Jersey. After the decisive victories at Trenton, on December 26 1776, and Princeton, on January 3 1777, Washington changed course from New Brunswick to Morristown, allowing his troops to rest. The location of Morristown, being a town of roughly 250 people who were largely farmers or ironworkers, was a challenging region for the British to invade and made it easier for Washington and his troops to keep track of potential British movements. A fort was built on top of Kinney’s Hill on George Washington’s orders that overlooked Morristown at roughly 230 feet and it would later be known as Fort Nonsense.

Stephanie Ericsson’s “The Ways We Lie”, analyzes the prominent role of lying in everyone’s lives. In lies, both the liar and the person being lied to will suffer by having a false sense of security, reality, and honesty. Stephanie Ericsson uses interrogation, alliteration, and repetition in order to convey her idea about the art of lies.

The art of deception is an essential skill, especially in moments such as political debates and commercial promotions. In today's society, artifice is a widely utilized skill to persuade the public. The commercial market connects producers to consumers through propaganda which appeals to consumers through elements such as pathos, ethos, and logos. Utilizing these elements, the audience is immediately drawn into the viewpoint of the deceiver. Politicians tried to appear as ordinary and modest as possible to seem more appealing to their audience. But, it can be a deception. As Chris Hedges said in his Empire of Illusion, a story is the best form of artifice because the “consistency and emotional appeal of the story are paramount.” Often politicians tell stories to create a persona making themselves look more trustworthy.

Harry G. Frankfurt was a former philosophy professor at Princeton University. In 1986, he wrote the article “On Bullshit” that was published in the Raritan Review. Two years later, it was published in a book, “The Importance of what we care about,” with all Frankfurt’s other philosophical essays and then ended up being published as its own volume in 2005, which then became a number one seller for 27 weeks straight. In Frankfurt’s article, he tries to distinguish the difference between bullshit and lying and why there is so much bullshit. Frankfurt tells us there is no theory for bullshit, so he tries to lay out a foundation philosophical analysis of what bullshit might mean to us.

Have you ever made a decision and later completely wonder why it is you made that decision? “Sway The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior” by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman examine moments of our lives where we could easily be swayed. The Brafmans discuss topics like commitment and value attribution. With examples of what attracts us into making a bad decision. The brilliant authors make it easy to understand the analyzations of the situations. Where there is a possibility of being swayed. With proper analyzation we can prevent these situations from taking place again. Almost everyone has made a decision we misunderstand and behind that decision is an irresistible pull of irrational behavior. No one is perfect, and no one can avoid being swayed into an irrational situation, not even me.

Carr argues that bluffing in business is closer to the strategic bluffing normally found in poker, than it is to bluffing in private life. (Carr paragraph 2) He uses a quote from Henry Taylor to describe bluffing in poker and business: “falsehood ceases to be falsehood when it is understood on all sides that the truth is not expected to be spoken” (Carr paragraph 3). He argues that several people lie about their opinion if their job or their business could suffer if they answered truly, and that this is considered an acceptable business strategy (Carr paragraph 4). Two examples of deception in the hiring process are given; one where the applicant chooses the options he thinks his employer would most agree with and another where the applicant lists himself as younger than he actually is in order to increase the odds of being hired (Carr article, section: Pressure to Decieve). The author mentions that both fall within acceptable business ethics. These examples serve to illustrate the discrepancy between private ethics and the ethics of public business.

In On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfurt, a professor at Princeton University discusses the concept of bullshit from his standpoint. He begins his essay by stating, “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit” (117). Since Frankfurt doubts that “most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it” (117), he provides a theoretical understanding of bullshit. The big question being asked throughout this argument is when, if ever, is bullshitting seriously morally wrong and why? And what exactly is so important about caring about, respecting, and telling the truth? Aspects of bullshit are discussed with reference to the Oxford English Dictionary, Wittgenstein, and Saint Augustine. There are three points made throughout the essay that seem to be crucially important- the difference between lying and bullshitting, the question of why there is so much bullshit in society today, and an analysis of sincerity.

The profound author of Predictably Irrational is Dan Ariely. When Ariely was a young eighteen year old Israeli boy, he suffered serious injuries due to an explosion. Tragically, 70% of his body was covered in third degree burns (xiii). Due to this tragic accident, Ariely became accustomed to an unnatural viewpoint in economics. The daily “bath” that the nurses gave Ariely made him experience a great deal of irrational fears that were persistent and life-changing. Once his wounds had healed, Ariely then sought out to grasp a better understanding of how to better treat patients so that they did not have to experience the irrational fears that Ariely overcame. This allowed him to begin his field of research, leading to the creation of this intellectually profound book.

"Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely is one of my all-time favorite books; as it shows parts of the human's behavioral patterns(primarily decision-making) and why we make the decisions we make, in a new perspective while introducing fresh, shocking yet true facts about us. A lot of the time we think that we opt for the rational choice while in reality many of our choices couldn't be more irrational and emotional. The book contains many points but for the sake of being brief, I'll discus one, which is why a cheap aspirin can never do what a more expensive one can.