Harry Frankfurt

Harry Frankfurt is an American moral philosopher and professor emeritus. He is best known for his influential work on the concepts of free will, moral responsibility, and the analysis of bullshit. His career has been primarily associated with Princeton University and has significantly shaped contemporary debates in analytic philosophy and moral psychology.

Biography

Harry Gordon Frankfurt was born in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. He completed his undergraduate and doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University, earning his PhD in 1954 under the supervision of H. S. Thayer. He began his academic career as an instructor at Ohio State University before holding positions at State University of New York at Binghamton and Yale University. In 1976, he joined the faculty at Rockefeller University, and later moved to Princeton University in 1990, where he served as a professor in the Department of Philosophy until his retirement. He has been a visiting professor at institutions including the University of California, Irvine.

Philosophical work

Frankfurt's early work engaged deeply with the philosophy of René Descartes, particularly in his book *Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen*. His most famous contributions emerged in the field of moral psychology, where he challenged traditional notions of free will. In his seminal 1969 paper "Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility," he introduced Frankfurt cases, thought experiments designed to refute the principle of alternate possibilities, which holds that moral responsibility requires the ability to do otherwise. He further developed a compatibilist theory of free will, centered on a hierarchy of desires, where freedom is identified with having the second-order volitions one wants to have. His 2005 bestselling essay *On Bullshit* analyzed the concept as a distinct form of misrepresentation, contrasting it with lying.

Influence and legacy

Frankfurt's work has had a profound impact on several philosophical disciplines. His critique of the principle of alternate possibilities fundamentally reshaped debates on moral responsibility within analytic philosophy, influencing subsequent philosophers like Gary Watson, Susan Wolf, and David Velleman. The concept of a hierarchy of desires became a central model in discussions of autonomy, personhood, and addiction. His essay *On Bullshit* transcended academic philosophy, entering popular discourse and sparking widespread public discussion about truth and communication in contemporary society, including politics and media.

Selected bibliography

* *Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen: The Defense of Reason in Descartes's Meditations* (1970) * *The Importance of What We Care About: Philosophical Essays* (1988) * *Necessity, Volition, and Love* (1999) * *On Bullshit* (2005) * *On Truth* (2006) * *The Reasons of Love* (2004) * *Taking Ourselves Seriously & Getting It Right* (2006)

Awards and honors

Frankfurt has received numerous accolades for his contributions to philosophy. His book *On Bullshit* won the Melcher Book Award in 2005. He has been a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies. In 2015, he was awarded the APA's Quinn Prize for service to philosophy and philosophers. He holds honorary degrees from institutions including the University of St Andrews and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Category:American philosophers Category:1929 births Category:Princeton University faculty Category:20th-century American philosophers