Having outlined a theory of bullshit and falsehood, Harry G.
Frankfurt turns to what lies beyond them: the truth, a
concept not as obvious as some might expect.
Our culture's devotion to bullshit may seem much stronger
than our apparently halfhearted attachment to truth. Some
people (professional thinkers) won't even acknowledge "true"
and "false" as meaningful categories, and even those who
claim to love truth cause the rest of us to wonder whether
they, too, aren't simply full of it. Practically speaking,
many of us deploy the truth only when absolutely necessary,
often finding alternatives to be more saleable, and yet
somehow civilization seems to be muddling along. But where
are we headed? Is our fast and easy way with the facts
actually crippling us? Or is it "all good"? Really, what's
the use of truth, anyway?
With the same leavening wit and commonsense wisdom that
animates his pathbreaking work On Bullshit, Frankfurt
encourages us to take another look at the truth: there may
be something there that is perhaps too plain to notice but
for which we have a mostly unacknowledged yet deep-seated
passion. His book will have sentient beings across America
asking, "The truth—why didn't I think of that?"
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