The difference between a liar and a bullshitter
Back in 1986, a Princeton philosopher named Harry Frankfurt published a short essay with a title you don’t expect to see in an academic journal, “On Bullshit.” It stayed largely inside academic circles for the better part of twenty years.
Then in 2005 Princeton University Press decided to reprint it as a tiny hardcover, 67 pages, and basically small enough to fit in your back pocket. Within a month, it had sold more than 110,000 copies. A philosophy professor’s little book with a rude word title had suddenly become a runaway bestseller.
On Bullshit’s whole argument rests on a distinction most of us have never bothered to make, even though we run into both kinds of people each and every single day…
A liar and a bullshitter aren’t the same animal.
The liar knows the truth. That’s the key thing about them. They know exactly what’s true, and they work...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to thenextweb.com. To see the full text click HERE
