Harry Frankfurt
American philosopher
Died when: 94 years 48 days (1129 months)Star Sign: Gemini
Harry Gordon Frankfurt (born May 29, 1929) was an American philosopher.He is professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University, where he taught from 1990 until 2002.
Frankfurt has also taught at Yale University, Rockefeller University, and Ohio State University.Frankfurt has made significant contributions to fields like ethics and philosophy of mind.
The attitude of caring plays a central role in his philosophy.To care about something means to see it as important and reflects the person's character.
According to Frankfurt, a person is someone who has second-order volitions or who cares about what desires they have.He contrasts persons with wantons.
Wantons are beings that have desires but do not care about which of their desires is translated into action.In the field of ethics, Frankfurt has given various influential counterexamples, so-called Frankfurt cases, against the principle that moral responsibility depends on the ability to do otherwise.
His most popular book is On Bullshit, which discusses, among other things, the distinction between bullshitting and lying.
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