Posted at 12:00 p.m.
In 2005, the American philosopher Harry Frankfurt published a book on bullshit which was a resounding success. In On the art of talking bullshit (On Bullshit)Frankfurt argued that bullshit was pervasive in our culture and that it had detrimental consequences for the search for truth.
Frankfurt’s definition of bullshit and the conclusions he drew from it are as relevant as ever, especially when it comes to public communication.
What is bullshit?
For Frankfurt, bullshit is having no regard for truth and falsity. For the joker, the only thing that matters is convincing his audience to act a certain way or believe in something.
The omnipresence of bullshit is explained in particular by the belief that, in a democratic society, citizens should have an opinion on all subjects.
However, it is impossible to have an opinion on all subjects, hence the tendency to justify our opinions by relying on bullshit.
When, for example, a candidate for president of the United States declares that he can govern his country because of his military experience, he is kidding himself. Not only is it difficult to know whether this is true or false, but there is no guarantee that the qualities required to be a good soldier are those of a good president.
Likewise, when the spokesperson for an energy drink brand publicly says that it is the best energy drink on the market and that he loves this kind of drink, he is kidding himself. Its purpose is neither to tell the truth nor to lie, but to sell a brand of energy drink.
But bullshit is not lying. The liar knows he is lying. So he knows the truth. In a way, he has more respect for the truth than the joker who is ready to say anything to get his way.
Why should we avoid talking bullshit?
According to Frankfurt, bullshit does irreparable damage to the truth. When you live in a society where bullshit is omnipresent, it is difficult to know what is true and to understand reality.
When it comes to public communication, bullshit has two particularly harmful effects.
The first is that it undermines trust. If my interlocutor does not respect the same rules of communication as me, especially the distinction between true and false, and if he is ready to say anything, it is difficult to have confidence in him.
Bullshit introduces the idea that what we are told is primarily intended to manipulate us and not to convey factual information to us.
The other harmful effect is that it undermines the conditions for dialogue. If the interlocutors do not trust each other, the will to dialogue with those who do not share our ideas is considerably reduced.
Instead of dialogue with those who do not share our ideas, we dialogue with those who already share them, which reduces our ability to revise our point of view and, possibly, to change our minds.
If we had to say in one word why we should avoid saying bullshit, we can say that it is because bullshit undermines not only the search for truth, but the conditions for successful public communication.