23.2.05

bull....

It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth, writes Harry G. Frankfurt, emeritus professor of philosophy at Princeton in his recent book : On Bull----. A person who lies is thereby responding to the truth, and he is to that extent respectful of it. The bull artist, on the other hand, cares nothing for truth or falsehood. The only thing that matters to him is getting away with what he says. An advertiser or a politician or talk show host given to [bull] "does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it," he writes. "He pays no attention to it at all." ... More on the b-s article; or on the essay/book.