It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction. … [The bullshitter] does not reject the authority of the truth. … He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of truth than lies are. … Bullshit is unaviodable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about. Thus the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic. This discrepancy is common in public life, where people are frequently impelled … to speak extensively about matters of which they are to some degree ignorant.
Harry Frankfurt, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Princeton
Otherwise known as the Bullshitter’ Charter. It appeared in the Belfast Telegraph in response to a serious critique of the Minister’s “vision” for children’s education.
Read the common sense comments on her article.
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