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On the theory that, with the possible exception of people who routinely deal with used car sales managers, librarians might be the audience most in need a volume dedicated to the topic of b.s., I decided to review Frankfurt's book. This slim volume (67 short pages) is not a prank or a gag-gift book (it is also priced accordingly at $9.95). Frankfurt is a Professor Emeritus of moral philosophy at Princeton University, and while the tongue may occasionally be in the cheek, the discussion and the distinctions made about what bullshit is, and is not, is serious and informative. The book begins with the observation that "one of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this." However, the topic per se has received little formal attention - "a conscientiously developed appreciation" as he calls it - and therefore "we have no theory" of bullshit.
Frankfurt goes on to explore the links among and distinctions between common terms and understandings of them like humbug, bull, bull sessions, bluff, falsehoods, and outright lies in order to arrive at a tentative definition of what bullshit is. It is the distinction between bullshitting and telling a lie...