TheBestseller
Observatory
2005
ON BULL----
Harry G. Frankfurt
Cover of ON BULL----

ON BULL----

Anniversary Edition

by Harry G. Frankfurt

Princeton University Press · 2025

Peak rank

#1

Weeks on list

27

Weeks at #1

1

Debuted

April 2005

Chart History

#1510152005

27 weeks on the Hardcover Nonfiction list, including 1 week at #1

Over one million copies sold worldwide The international and #1 New York Times bestseller The anniversary edition of the acclaimed book that reveals why bullshit is more dangerous than lying One of the most prominent features of our world is that there is so much bullshit. Yet we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, how it’s different from lying, what purposes it serves, and what it means. In his acclaimed bestseller On Bullshit, which was featured on The Daily Show and 60 Minutes, Harry Frankfurt, who was one of the world’s most influential moral philosophers, explores one of the most serious problems of our politics and our world. This twentieth anniversary edition features a postscript in which Frankfurt emphasizes that “indifference to the truth is extremely dangerous.” With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do—that is, by deliberately making false claims about what’s true. Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Although bullshit can take innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the bullshitter’s capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying doesn’t. Liars at least acknowledge that the truth matters. Because of this, Frankfurt says, “bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.” Remarkably prescient and insightful, On Bullshit is a small book that explains a great deal about our time.

All Appearances

10NEWApril 3, 2005wk 1
4↑2May 1, 2005wk 5
5↓1May 8, 2005wk 6
6↓1May 15, 2005wk 7
8↓2May 22, 2005wk 8
7↑1May 29, 2005wk 9
1↑6June 5, 2005wk 10
4↓3June 12, 2005wk 11
5↓1June 19, 2005wk 12

Details

ISBN-13
9780691276793
ISBN-10
069127679X
Published
2025
Pages
96
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Categories
Philosophy

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