Hardcover, 80 pages
English language
Published Jan. 10, 2005 by Princeton University Press.
A moral philosopher tries to distinguish bullshit from related categories such as lies and humbug.
Philosophical works are rarely so accessible, and Frankfurt's entertaining prose makes this thorough examination of the concept of bullshit extremely enjoyable. This is more of a long book chapter than a book, and given its relevance to LLMs there's no excuse not to read this important work. Highly recommend
The author recently died and I was reminded of this book. I decided to read it in preparation for the oncoming deluge. This essay is short, but as a book, it is very short. It is so short that its Wikipedia summary seems as comprehensive as the book itself.
The author's insights and analysis seemed valuable, but if I were the publisher I would consider a version that included essays by his critics, Mark Twain's On the Decay of the Art of Lying, and perhaps Max Black's The Prevalence of Humbug (referenced by Frankfurt).
