Harry Frankfurt Essays

Harry Frankfurt, of Princeton University, takes on the task of defining an ambiguous word used often in today’s modern culture: bullshit. Frankfurt’s essay, “On Bullshit,” was first written in 1986 then later was published in the book On Bullshit in 2005. The purpose of this writing piece is to uncover the true meaning of bullshit. Frankfurt attempts to achieve an accurate definition of the word by exploring how it relates to the writings of others, including Max Black, Longfellow, and St. Augustine

Harry Frankfurt's "On Truth" examines the relativity of truth and its degree of importance from Shakespeare's sonnet 138 during chapter VII, in which Frankfurt concludes "love's best habit"—is actually not genuine trust. Mere "seeming trust" is just as good, he suggests, if not sometimes even better." (Harry Frankfurt, On Truth, 34-35). Based on the quote from Frankfurt it can be concluded that the truth and trust do not correlate to living well. Frankfurt agrees with the notion that, in fact, the

Christine Korsgaard and Harry Frankfurt hold opposing ideas on the elements that are required in order for a person to have full agency over their actions. Korsgaard’s paper, Self-constitution in Plato and Kant, argues for the idea that in order to have authorship over one’s actions, reason must guide decisions in the form of a self-constitution, or a set of principles that one follows. Frankfurt’s paper, Identification and Wholeheartedness, counters this by arguing that one’s will to act must come

Harry G. Frankfurt introduces the related concept of Humbug. Humbug and Bullshit are not exactly interchangeable, but more often than not, what we hear from Politicians is considered to be more-so Humbug than truly lies. Humbug, by definition, is deceptive misrepresentation of oneself, especially by pretentious word or deed. Politicians often try to portray a certain image of themselves, and they do that through misrepresentation of the words they’re using and the pretentiousness attitudes they give

According to Harry Frankfurt’s definition in On Bullshit, bullshit refers to language that is designed to impress or persuade rather than to convey truth. In the novel, Frankfurt argues that bullshitting is distinct from both the truth and lying. It involves a disregard for truth altogether. This idea can be applied to the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, who are trapped in a cave and only see shadows of the world outside. The prisoners’ understanding of reality is limited, and they may

Psychopaths as the Gods of Bullshit Based on the definition of Bullshit provided by Harry G. Frankfurt in the article On Bullshit () and the additional definition provided about creativity psychopaths are the gods of bullshit because they are highly intelligent, creative, can believe they are superior to others, are fearless, and lack emotion. The gods of bullshit are the psychopaths who share traits with narcissists and Machiavellians which means that the charismatic and remorseless con man would

we cannot control them. But, we cultivate free will through our second order desires by using will power. Thus, free will ignores the external aspects of a human being, instead, it is developed internally (Frankfurt). Through the theories and arguments of Roderick Chisholm and Harry Frankfurt, free will is explained and defined. However, how does God play into this argument? Because He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent – how does that reconcile with our free will? One of the ways that

Harry Frankfurt’s paper titled Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility makes an argument in opposition to the Principle of Alternative Possibilities. His viewpoints alter the perception of philosophical concepts like determinism and free will, and under what circumstances a person is morally responsible for their actions depending on the assumption they had options to make another choice. The principle that Frankfurt disputes is that of the Principle of Alternative Possibilities, in which

As a member of the Frankfurt School, Theodor Adorno both remembered and became nostalgic for a life before mass commercialization. As a witness to the role of propaganda and mass production in Germany during both World Wars and the invention of the printing press, piano roll, phonograph, radio, and Tin Pan Alley, Adorno passionately challenged the place of mass communication within society. As worried as Adorno was about mass culture undermining individualism in the twentieth century, he would be

The Smart film and High concept film are common terms used in Hollywood. According to Jeffery Sconce, not only can smart cinema be thought of as a ‘wing’ or an ‘arm’ of indie cinema and has many of the features of the indie aesthetic, but smart cinema also has it’s own specific stylistic, narrative and tonal features. In addition, the smart film explicitly positions itself in opposition to mainstream Hollywood cinema while also remaining a part of it. On the other hand, high concept film is a term

In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell demonstrates the injustice towards women and their very basic fundamental rights, this brings the patience of a few women to a tipping point and initiates the birth of a buried movement after centuries of reticence, during the early twentieth century in North America. It is this common memory and experiences among women, which motivated few women to rise up against the male dominated Justice System, which eventually wakes up the rest of the women in the society

Compare the different approaches that Timberg in Culture Crash and Hewison’s Cultural Capital take to a single aspect of the contemporary culture industry. In this essay I will discuss the different approaches that Timberg and Hewison used in their respective books Culture Crash and Cultural Capital. Scott Timberg discusses the ever growing threat to the creative class. Which he defines as “anyone who helps create or disseminate culture,” this includes musicians, librarians, artists,architects

CJ Armstrong CRJS 2090 Case Study 1 2/18/23 1. How does Messner and Rosenfeld’s theory of institutional anomie help us understand the choices made by Howard Ratner in the film? What type of strain reviewed in the class can be best applied? Completely define all components of the theory(s), then apply the theory to the film. The theory of institutional anomie essentially assumes that an individual places material goods above most other things in life because in the United States material wealth is

Resulting from a series of political revolutions such as the 1789 French Revolution and the 1760 Industrial Revolution, and a series of historical developments such as the subsequent rise of capitalism, Enlightenment thinkers sought to combine reason with empirical research in an effort to produce bodies of rational thought. These bodies of rational thought arose from the thinkers’ belief in using reason and research to comprehend and control society; focusing on the relationship between the individual

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s essay, The Culture Industry (1944), juxtaposes the words culture and industry to describe a state where cultural forms, such as television, music, and film are no longer creative outlets but industries dominated by commodification and profit. The production of meaning, creation of stories, symbols, and experiences that we use to make sense of the world is an industry or a full profit venture. David Hesmondhalgh’s ideas, in The Culture Industries (2013), differ

Enlightenment is a very interesting concept when one thinks about what it entails. Enlightenment, as it is discussed in The Critique of Enlightenment, is a state of awareness due to the constant gain of knowledge and understanding. Horkheimer and Adorno bring some very interesting points to light on the topic of enlightenment that should be well considered when dealing with social issues. Why is it that man has such an intense attraction for knowledge apart from compassion? Is knowledge alone enough

Progress, if incorrectly defined by the population, “sabotages insight and helps to perpetuate the zealously forbidding reflection upon what, in the age of both utopian and absolutely destructive possibilities, the consciousness of those entangled would like to discover: whether there is progress” (Adorno, 143). According to the philosophical writers, Adorno, Lefebvre, and Nina Power, in a capitalist society, false wants and needs along with the hegemonic system set up by capitalism, stunt genuine

Karen Quiroz Munoz Professor Buechele Midterm: Question 2 In this paper I will discuss the "Culture Industry" by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer and why they argued that audience identification with the products of the culture industry was manipulation. Also I will discuss Adorno and Horkheimer 's views of the possibility to have "authentic" forms of art produced through the culture industry. And lastly, how they define true works of art. Adorno and Horkheimer take an interesting stance when

In the past decades, politicians had believed authoritarian regime would only hinder economic development. However, there are successful cases demonstrated by authoritarian countries that it may not be the case. It raised a heated debate on whether authoritarian regime will help or hinder economic development. Before addressing the question, definition of keyword are needed to be clarified. Authoritarianism refers to “Political systems with limited, not responsible, political pluralism, without elaborate

Zinn’s speech shows a clear indication that he is confident in his own field and opinion. An example is when he openly criticizes Hollywood’s poor structure; “It’s a structure where money and profit are absolutely the first consideration: before art, before aesthetics, before human values” (2). He is brutally honest about his opinion on Hollywood’s capitalistic outlook. He claims that they do not focus on the true priorities that a movie should have and instead are only focused on making money rather