Phew. You can’t find a better title than this. And, to think, it’s a serious tract on attempting to define just what bullshit really is. I mean, can you imagine sitting in a class at Princeton, waiting for the prof, and he shows up and opens with, “Today, class will be about bullshit.” Most memorable experience, I bet.
And the beauty of this tract is that, in essence, it is absolute bullshit. I mean, on one level, trying to justify the bullshit is the job of the bullshitter. That’s what he does: when someone calls him on his shit, he either backs it up with more bullshit or weasels his way out of it (are the two options that different?). Making it academic doesn’t make it any less bullshit. Ah, the bittersweet irony. I love it.
Finished: 4/26/0
Pages: 67
Running page count: 5,992
June 13, 2008 at 4:49 pm
How exactly is this book bullshit? I really couldn’t follow your reasoning . . .
The interesting thing about this is that it was originally published in 1985. It’s been around for some time in philosophical circles and has spawned a few other interesting books about the subject.
I recently wrote a post about bullshit as it applies to apologies, and used some of this book, among other, as reference material. Following the tag led me here.
Interesting post. But methinks it’s just more bullshit . . .
Ha!
Brian