Deeper Into Bullshit

Dated Jan 1, 2002; last modified on Mon, 05 Sep 2022

Deeper Into Bullshit

Unlike Frankfurt’s argument that “the lack of concern to the truth” is the essence of bullshit , unclarifiability is the essence of bullshit.

The speaker’s state of mind is not a necessary condition: a liar may inadvertently speak the truth; an honest person may mistakenly speak falsely; an honest follower may regurgitate bullshit.

Unclarifiable statements cannot be rendered unosbcure without creating something that is not recognizable of what was said, e.g. If a lion could speak, we would not understand him.

A sufficient condition of unclarity is that negating the statement makes no difference to its level of plausibility.

Sometimes it’s easier to define things by what they’re not, e.g. defining unclarity as opposed to clarity.

Other essences of bullshit are:

  • Arguments that are grossly deficient in logic or in sensitivity to empirical evidence.
  • Irretrievably speculative comments which are neither unclear nor wanting in logic, e.g. Of course, everyone spends much more time thinking about sex now than people did a hundred years ago!

References

  1. Contours of Agency: Essays on themes from Harry Frankfurt: Deeper into Bullshit. Cohen GA. 2002.