A reader writes, "Much-blogged 'On Bullshit' essayist Harry Frankfurt, of Princeton's philosophy department, has asked me to pull a 131-word excerpt from his essay from my blog, saying that it'll hurt his profits. Has the guy–an academic, no less–never used quotation in his work? Never heard of fair use?"
Here's 131 words from On Bullshit for your perusal. In my view, the claim that this is either a "clear infringement" of copyright or will displace sales of the book is so unlikely as to constitute bullshit.
One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so
much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share.
But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather
confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being
taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate
concern, or attracted much sustained inquiry. In consequence, we have
no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of
it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously
developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, we have
no theory. I propose to begin the development of a theoretical
understanding of bullshit, mainly by providing some tentative and
exploratory philosophical analysis.
Update: Paul sez, "It seems Harry Frankfurt isn't a copyright monster, but just a bit confused. He emailed me the following. If you wouldn't mind doing an update…"
Dear Mr. Schmelzer,
I've looked at your site, and I have no objection to the excerpt from my essay that is presented there. I apologize for any suggestion that you might have done something improper. Indeed, I am grateful to you for the honor that your attention to my work does me.
Harry Frankfurt
