A Kind Word for Bullshit

I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading “A Kind Word for Bullshit: A Problem of Academic Writing” by Phillip Eubanks and John D. Schaeffer much more than I enjoyed “On Bullshit” by Harry J. Frankfurt. We’ve been talking about authors caring about what they write in class and I felt nothing but frustration and some sort of mockery after reading Frankfurt’s essay. I felt as if every word of that 67-page book was complete bullshit. I kind of felt as if Frankfurt is laughing at everyone who read that because I have a feeling that he knows what he wrote is actual bullshit.

On the other hand, after reading Eubanks and Schaeffer’s response to “On Bullshit” I felt them caring about what was being said about their profession. They didn’t use extravagant words and definitions to try to get a point across. I felt them being real and trying to get their point across that what Frankfurt said is not entirely true. Neither Eubanks nor Schaeffer deny that their colleges and students use “academic bullshit”, they are trying to prove what they think bullshit is or isn’t.

Out of the whole essay, one quote stuck out to me.

“Even though some composition scholars have critiqued academic discourse as a form of Enlightenment-inspired hegemony, almost no one advocates completely abandoning academic styles and standards. If academic writing is bullshit, then bullshit is what we teach” (Schaeffer 374).

I believe that this is Eubanks and Schaeffer trying to say, “This is what we do, if you don’t like it, then so what.” At least that’s what I would say. Everyone uses bullshit from some time to another. I believe it is part of human nature. Everyone wants to look good to the people around them. If that means hyping up their story a little or even adding a few ten dollar words to their essay, then so what? It’s not the end of the world. Does bullshit deserve to have an essay written about it and another response essay in return? I don’t think so. Bullshit, in any form, has always been and will always be around as long as there are people to spew it out.