On Truth - Harry G. Frankfurt

a defense of truth

This 'book' is much better than "On BS". The author lays out reasons on why Truth is important for us to ackowledge its existence and to (most of the time) try to attain it. He purports truth to be independent of observer (because facts are) and mildly attacks postmodernism and skepticism.

You can't discuss truth without discussing false so some time is spent on the subject of 'lying' (not necessarily of the BS variety). I found this to be the most interesting section.

This book is more philosophical than On BS. But there are a fair amount of anecdotes that work well.

Truth matters

A followup essay by the author of On Bullshit, this one addresses truth from the same "philosophical fireside chat" approach. Frankfurt explains the benefits of truth, both in the form of particular statements of fact about reality, and in the form of Truth as a Platonic other.

He explains concisely why truth matters in 100 pages that can be read in an hour. Keep both books handy.

Truly dull and uninformative

I should have been tipped off the worth of "On Truth" by its small size -- merely 2 disks' worth of audio when even small books use up 6. But size aside, "On Truth" was a rather large waste of time. Harry Frankfurter follows up on his popular "On B.S." with this volume which explores the other side of the coin -- the existence and utility of truth. Frankfurter's main aim seems to be to refute the notion of post-modernists, who hold that truth is unknowable and even non-existent, outside of the mind of individual human beings. But aside from a few swipes at this group, Frankfurter trots out the venerable (yet hoary and impractical) arguments on the value of truth from Aristotle, Spinoza, Montaigne and others. Frankfurter begins with the rather unremarkable position that truth and falsity underlie the sciences and societal stability. Who, after all would wants to cross a bridge built by an engineer not interested in the truth of mathematics and the reliability of materials strength tables? Who would want to live in a society in which the truth of election results cannot be determined objectively?

But while these simpleminded and self-evident uses of truth are very nice in the abstract world of philosophy, truth is more difficult to find (and far less useful) in practice. Opinion, which Frankfurter sees as ideally based on facts, takes on strange colorations when filtered through human brains with various capacities for rationality. Frankfurter does not consider how it can be that even two people dedicated to truth-telling can come to different conclusions about a topic, based perhaps on their own histories and unknown biases. Neither does he consider social lying, in which truth that hurts is avoided. He doesn't even deal with the standard example where telling the truth would be immoral -- as when it would led to the death or injury of an innocent party. The closest that Frankfurter comes to a nuanced view of truth is in his exploration of Shakespeare's sonnet 138, in which two lovers knowingly lie to each other, thereby achieving a higher and perhaps more realistic appraisal of one another.

"On Truth" is dull, incomplete and ponderously written. It includes no examples to illuminate its dense and pompous prose. It does not take into account the real-life difficulties of determining the truth. Nor does it help the reader recognize personal biases that make knowing the truth difficult.

In short, "On Truth" is a bore, a bother and bad investment of time and money. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Eh

I was pretty pumped for this, but found it unnecessarily difficult to get through, and couldn't really enjoy the reading experience. I know philosophy isn't supposed to be easy, but I felt like Frankfurt's writing took the fun out of critical thinking which I usually love. I'm sure philosophy majors and others with lots of experience with these kinds of texts would appreciate it more, but for those, like me, who are just trying to get our hands on interesting and thought provoking reading materials, look elsewhere.

Dull but Relevant and Helpful

I listened to the audiobook version of On Truth and was not captivated by the writing. I found it dry and not very stimulating. There are few illustrations, anecdotes or stories. The writing about truth is to the point and both philosophical and practical.

Frankfurt emphasizes the harm and effects that lies have on the liar and the victim. He also emphasizes the importance of truth to society, culture and the workplace.

This is a short book, so it is not much of an investment of time or energy and does serve to underscore the evidence and significance of truth.Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays