Status
Available
Publication
New York : Abrams Image, 2006.
Description
Here's a lively, not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical traditions, schools, concepts, and thinkers. It's Philosophy 101 for everyone who knows not to take all this heavy stuff too seriously. Some of the Big Ideas are existentialism (what do Hegel and Bette Midler have in common?), philosophy of language (how to express what it's like being stranded on a desert island with Halle Berry), feminist philosophy (why, in the end, a man is always a man), and much more. Finally--it all makes sense!--From publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member riofriotex
Subtitled Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, I picked up this audiobook at the library because the title intrigued me. It’s an attempt to make various philosophical perspectives and principles more accessible through jokes. It wasn’t entirely successful. It may have been due to the
I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Narrator Johnny Heller, a stand-up comedian, used varying accents for different jokes, and I always had a couple really funny ones I could tell my husband each day (it took me four days to listen to this audiobook during my commute). However, many of the jokes were old ones and/or really weren’t that funny, and some were either not politically correct or were a bit smutty. I thought about buying this book for my dad for his upcoming 80th birthday because he was a philosophy major, but for the same reason, I’ve decided not to. In sum – I don’t regret listening to this book, but I don’t think it accomplishes its stated purpose, and I can’t really recommend it to anyone else.
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audiobook format (I learned with a couple of Stephen Hawking books that science and audiobooks don’t mix well for me) making it hard to concentrate on the philosophy. Or, as indicated by some reviews on Amazon, it may be more that many of the jokes don’t really illustrate the philosophical concepts they are supposed to clarify.I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Narrator Johnny Heller, a stand-up comedian, used varying accents for different jokes, and I always had a couple really funny ones I could tell my husband each day (it took me four days to listen to this audiobook during my commute). However, many of the jokes were old ones and/or really weren’t that funny, and some were either not politically correct or were a bit smutty. I thought about buying this book for my dad for his upcoming 80th birthday because he was a philosophy major, but for the same reason, I’ve decided not to. In sum – I don’t regret listening to this book, but I don’t think it accomplishes its stated purpose, and I can’t really recommend it to anyone else.
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LibraryThing member Meredy
Six-word review: Wisdom is a fool in motley.
Extended review:
Do you think this is funny?
Two cows are standing in a field. One says to the other, "What do you think about this mad cow disease?"
"What do I care?" says the other. "I'm a helicopter."
There's humor in much of what I read, but it's usually
If you think it's just dumb, well, never mind. People's senses of humor are pretty idiosyncratic, after all. There's a lot of supposed comedy that I just don't care for at all. But I loved this little book.
What that cow story has to do with existentialism may not be immediately apparent, but the authors will make it clear. It's their gift to be able to encapsulate the chief ideas of several branches of philosophy--metaphysics, logic, epistemology, ethics, and so on--and convey their essential qualities through jokes. Their approach is unabashedly entertaining, and I wish I'd had this light-hearted treatment on hand when I was a philosophy student; but it also rests on a very sound premise for which I've always had immense respect, namely, the efficacy of humor as a vehicle for truth: something cartoonists and satirists know very well.
Watch out, though: there are pop quizzes along the way and a three-point exam at the end. Resisting my native compulsions, I went on past it without completing the assignment. Instead I read the timeline of the history of philosophy, which set me off all over again.
I picked up this small orange-covered volume on a whim a few days ago, and it proved a nice break from far heavier stuff. My daytime sofa read is currently a very serious history of postwar Japan, and my bedtime novel is Adam Bede (1859), full of George Eliot's gently but deftly ironic observations on human nature, but nonetheless with a plot revolving around some deep and earnest characters who don't seem to see much humor in things. It was good for a change just to go ahead and laugh. By the time I got to the end and tried to read one of the stories aloud to my husband, I could hardly get the words out between gasps and tears. And it wasn't even that funny.
My father taught philosophy for 35 years. I know he would have loved this. He was fond of my all-time favorite quotation about philosophy (attributed to Feigl): "Philosophy is the disease for which it ought to be the cure." This book is a cure.
Extended review:
Do you think this is funny?
Two cows are standing in a field. One says to the other, "What do you think about this mad cow disease?"
"What do I care?" says the other. "I'm a helicopter."
There's humor in much of what I read, but it's usually
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of the cerebral variety, mild irony or absurdity, witty turns of phrase, that sort of thing; even Harry Dresden's wisecracks aren't usually laugh-out-loud funny. But this silly two-liner on page 120 just struck me as hilarious. If you're giggling too, then you and I have something in common.If you think it's just dumb, well, never mind. People's senses of humor are pretty idiosyncratic, after all. There's a lot of supposed comedy that I just don't care for at all. But I loved this little book.
What that cow story has to do with existentialism may not be immediately apparent, but the authors will make it clear. It's their gift to be able to encapsulate the chief ideas of several branches of philosophy--metaphysics, logic, epistemology, ethics, and so on--and convey their essential qualities through jokes. Their approach is unabashedly entertaining, and I wish I'd had this light-hearted treatment on hand when I was a philosophy student; but it also rests on a very sound premise for which I've always had immense respect, namely, the efficacy of humor as a vehicle for truth: something cartoonists and satirists know very well.
Watch out, though: there are pop quizzes along the way and a three-point exam at the end. Resisting my native compulsions, I went on past it without completing the assignment. Instead I read the timeline of the history of philosophy, which set me off all over again.
I picked up this small orange-covered volume on a whim a few days ago, and it proved a nice break from far heavier stuff. My daytime sofa read is currently a very serious history of postwar Japan, and my bedtime novel is Adam Bede (1859), full of George Eliot's gently but deftly ironic observations on human nature, but nonetheless with a plot revolving around some deep and earnest characters who don't seem to see much humor in things. It was good for a change just to go ahead and laugh. By the time I got to the end and tried to read one of the stories aloud to my husband, I could hardly get the words out between gasps and tears. And it wasn't even that funny.
My father taught philosophy for 35 years. I know he would have loved this. He was fond of my all-time favorite quotation about philosophy (attributed to Feigl): "Philosophy is the disease for which it ought to be the cure." This book is a cure.
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
Using jokes to illustrate their discussion, the authors of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar present an introduction to the varying theories of philosophy, from existentialism to applied ethics, feminism, and more. Each subject is briefly discussed, essentially just enough to get a very basic
Of course, I can't leave this review without including a joke. (^_^) Here's one I liked from the "Feminist" section, which turns basic expectations of the "Blonde Joke" on its head:
A blonde is sitting next to a lawyer on an airplane. The lawyer keeps bugging her to play a game with him by which they will see who has more general knowledge. Finally, he says he will offer her ten-to-one odds. Everytime she doesn't know the answer to one of his questions, she will pay him five dollars. Everytime he doesn't know the answer to one of her questions, he will pay her fifty.
She agrees to play, and he asks her, "What is the distance from the earth to the nearest star?"
She says nothing, just hands him a five dollar bill.
She asks him, "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes back down with four legs?"
He thinks for a long time but in the end has to concede that he has no idea. He hands her fifty dollars.
The blonde puts the money in her purse without comment.
The lawyer says, "Wait a minute. What's the answer to your question?"
Without a word she hands him five dollars.
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understanding of the form of philosophy before moving on to the next. It's an excellent and entertaining way to get to know the basic tenets of philosophy, so that if there is a particular philosophical field that appeals to you, you can go to other sources to learn more. Of course, I can't leave this review without including a joke. (^_^) Here's one I liked from the "Feminist" section, which turns basic expectations of the "Blonde Joke" on its head:
A blonde is sitting next to a lawyer on an airplane. The lawyer keeps bugging her to play a game with him by which they will see who has more general knowledge. Finally, he says he will offer her ten-to-one odds. Everytime she doesn't know the answer to one of his questions, she will pay him five dollars. Everytime he doesn't know the answer to one of her questions, he will pay her fifty.
She agrees to play, and he asks her, "What is the distance from the earth to the nearest star?"
She says nothing, just hands him a five dollar bill.
She asks him, "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes back down with four legs?"
He thinks for a long time but in the end has to concede that he has no idea. He hands her fifty dollars.
The blonde puts the money in her purse without comment.
The lawyer says, "Wait a minute. What's the answer to your question?"
Without a word she hands him five dollars.
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LibraryThing member ALincolnNut
This book offers a brief introduction to Philosophy through a series of well-chosen jokes. Systematically, Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein offer a glimpse of different philosophical schools within large categories: Metaphysics, Logic, and so on.
The heart of this exercise is the number of jokes
This is a breezy romp through philosophical concepts by authors who understand their subject matter. While it isn't the type of book that's likely to provide a good undergirding of philosophy, it is a book that can provide a handy resource whenever philosophical questions arise (and think of how often that is).
The heart of this exercise is the number of jokes
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that the author's claim highlight philosophical principles, exposing the underlying logic of logical fallacies and classifying the different sorts of epistemology. The descriptions of the various philosophical ideas are brief and to the point and the jokes are well-contextualized; even better, the jokes are pretty good.This is a breezy romp through philosophical concepts by authors who understand their subject matter. While it isn't the type of book that's likely to provide a good undergirding of philosophy, it is a book that can provide a handy resource whenever philosophical questions arise (and think of how often that is).
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LibraryThing member khsora23
This book is an excellent entry point for people uncertain about philosophy and logical evaluation of argument. The authors do a great job of using jokes to convey philosophical concepts. This technique that they term, "philogaging," is a superb method of explaining the somewhat advanced
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complexities of thought such as Kant's categorical imperative or Nietzsche's "uberman" as well as metaphysics and logical evaluations such as deductive and inductive reasoning. I highly recommend this book not only for its accessibility but its genuine comic value-the book is actually, surprisingly funny. I expected completely cheesy jokes (I wasn't disappointed) but some of them were great and the not so funny ones were at least thought provoking. I must admit I was skeptic upon first hearing about the approach of using jokes but I understand its value know that I have a reinforced concept of the fundamental philosophical theories. Many of the jokes however were sexual but I guess those were the funniest any way, so if you don't mind that the book is certainly a pleasant read. I feel that the book explains the philosophy that most American should be acquainted with anyway and at the very least the basic logic presented in the book is that which we should all understand-substitution and transitive implication of claims. This is a must read for all who are devoid of the entry level concepts of philosophy. Show Less
LibraryThing member mbattenberg
Okay, I liked it. As a former philosophy grad with a day job, it was a toss-up between Being and Time and this one....... but heck, it's summer, and at least this book has pictures. A lot of laughs on the subway too. I guess if you didn't like it I want to suggest: smoke a fattie and/or slide back
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a few cold beers on a hot day... then give it a chance Show Less
LibraryThing member subbobmail
Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar is a slight, light volume full of jokes that illuminate various topics in philosophy. Or, should I say, the absurdity of various topics in philosophy.
I like philosophy, but prefer jokes. One can argue the validity of a philosophical position all day without
I'd recommend this book for the college freshman about to take Philo 101 (because s/he will soon be in need of a little mirth). Best joke in the book: Two cows are ruminating in a field. First cow says: What do you think of this so-called Mad Cow Disease? Second cow says: What do I care, I'm a helicopter!
I like philosophy, but prefer jokes. One can argue the validity of a philosophical position all day without
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really proving or disproving its worth. The truth of a joke is immediately apparent -- did you laugh at it?I'd recommend this book for the college freshman about to take Philo 101 (because s/he will soon be in need of a little mirth). Best joke in the book: Two cows are ruminating in a field. First cow says: What do you think of this so-called Mad Cow Disease? Second cow says: What do I care, I'm a helicopter!
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LibraryThing member LisaCurcio
Trying to read some serious books about modern philosophical theories and having no academic background in the subject, I decided to pull this little bit of a book from the shelf to see if it would help. It did not.
The authors have great senses of humor, and many of the jokes are "laugh out loud"
The authors have great senses of humor, and many of the jokes are "laugh out loud"
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funny, but I am no closer to understanding any philosophical theory from Plato and Aristotle to the present. It was a fun break, however, and I recommend it if you are looking for some jokes to add to your repertoire. Show Less
LibraryThing member sjmccreary
Uses jokes to illustrate basic philosophical theories. It didn't teach me anything about philosphy, and the jokes are mostly old and tired, but it did raise my awareness of why some kinds of humor are funny (even if the jokes weren't, especially).
It's not terrible, but I wouldn't recommend it to
It's not terrible, but I wouldn't recommend it to
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most people, unless you have time to fill and nothing else to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sandydog1
The only thing this has going for it, is the title. It comprises15% philosophical terminology, 85% very simplistic, very stupid, jokes. It warrants a much more thorough review of philosophical concepts.
LibraryThing member bkwurm
This clever and hilarious book about "understanding philosophy through jokes" (as the tagline claims) was absolutely brilliant! It kept my interest the entire way through, and really does provide a decent overview of philosophical concepts and various philosophers throughout history--not to mention
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it arms the reader with some good joke fodder for cocktail parties and family get-togethers. I keep this book on my "guest room bookshelf" because it is so funny, interesting and accessible I can only imagine everyone will want to read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member goose114
This was a great little book that introduces or reacquaints you with philosophical theories while showing how jokes often play off them. I think the authors did a great job explaining philosophical theories and making them fun/funny.
LibraryThing member ChazzW
I listened to this as an audio book, in the Playaway format. Philosophy and jokes tease our minds in the same way, say the authors. Hence, this book. Insights and zingers are one and the same. There are many laugh out loud moments. A great many chuckles. And in several cases, the laughs are unique
The book is arranged by various fields of Philosophy. In Chapter 1, Metaphysics, this joke helps explain the misunderstood Leibnitz and his belief of Rationalism:
The optimist says, “The glass if half full.” The pessimist says, “The glass is half empty.” The rationalist says, “This glass is twice as big as it needs to be.”
In Chapter 2, Logic. And, there’s some very funny stuff here. One joke, illuminating self-serving logic is a howl. As is the Sherlock Holmes joke concerning deductive logic. Then there’s God as Civil Engineer….well, you had to be there!
Other Chapters consider Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Existentialism, Philosophy of Language, Social and Political Philosophy, Relativity (like what we call Chinese food, the Chinese call…food).
In a chapter on Metaphilosophy, the illustration is (of course) the metajoke:
A blind man, a lesbian, and a frog, walk into a bar. The barkeep looks at them and says, “What is this? A joke?
Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein: The authors. Diverting, pleasurable and funny. You may just learn a thing or two - but are just as likely to forget them.I can never remember the punch-line of jokes myself.
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insights into various aspects of philosophy. At the end of the day, though, you won’t come away with an in depth understanding of philosophy if the field of study is one with which are largely unfamiliar.The book is arranged by various fields of Philosophy. In Chapter 1, Metaphysics, this joke helps explain the misunderstood Leibnitz and his belief of Rationalism:
The optimist says, “The glass if half full.” The pessimist says, “The glass is half empty.” The rationalist says, “This glass is twice as big as it needs to be.”
In Chapter 2, Logic. And, there’s some very funny stuff here. One joke, illuminating self-serving logic is a howl. As is the Sherlock Holmes joke concerning deductive logic. Then there’s God as Civil Engineer….well, you had to be there!
Other Chapters consider Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Existentialism, Philosophy of Language, Social and Political Philosophy, Relativity (like what we call Chinese food, the Chinese call…food).
In a chapter on Metaphilosophy, the illustration is (of course) the metajoke:
A blind man, a lesbian, and a frog, walk into a bar. The barkeep looks at them and says, “What is this? A joke?
Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein: The authors. Diverting, pleasurable and funny. You may just learn a thing or two - but are just as likely to forget them.I can never remember the punch-line of jokes myself.
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LibraryThing member neurodrew
Very lightweight philosophy, disjointed, old jokes. I read this as a Kindle book and I am glad I did not buy a solid copy. This has the feel of being unfinished; like lecture notes but without the experience of the course
LibraryThing member Kplatypus
Okay, this I picked up purely because there was a platypus in the title, but since I've always meant to brush up on my philosophy, it was like hitting two birds with one stone. I didn't expect much from this little book and was pleasantly surprised. The authors, both erstwhile students of
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philosophy at Harvard, take the reader through a whirlwind review of philosophy. So far, so typical. What's not so typical is their stated goal- to demonstrate the similarities between philosophy and jokes, and to use the latter to explain the former. The jokes they use are, by and large, "oldies but goodies"- ie likely to produce a chuckle at most. Nonetheless, the book is cleverly written and makes for a pleasant little read. High brow literature? No, but a heck of a lot more readable than Schopenhauer, last I checked. Show Less
LibraryThing member CarolO
Very accessible and I think everyone will find something to relate to. Read this when the people around you won't mind your constant interruptions to share a joke. May not help you with your Philosophy 101 term paper but it is an enjoyable read.
LibraryThing member invisiblelizard
I picked up Plato and a Platypus... on a whim, an impulse buy as I was heading out of a Barnes & Noble one day. I think the orange cover caught my eye, and then a quick scan of the subject matter piqued my curiosity. Jokes? I like jokes. Philosophy? I don't know much about it, but it always seemed
I'm amazed at how much enjoyment I got out of it. First of all, a couple of the jokes I had to bring around to the wife and tell her. A couple of gems in there. (Mostly not, but that wasn't the point of the book. Besides, pick up any book of jokes - and I've picked up my share - and you'll know that it's mostly a collection of banality surrounding a couple of great knee-slappers.)
But mostly I enjoyed how the humor taught me a little about each different school of philosophy discussed. I can't say I'm walking away an expert in any of them, but I'm certainly a little more enlightened now.
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like something I *should* know more about, something I would like to know more about. So I brought it home and started flipping through it.I'm amazed at how much enjoyment I got out of it. First of all, a couple of the jokes I had to bring around to the wife and tell her. A couple of gems in there. (Mostly not, but that wasn't the point of the book. Besides, pick up any book of jokes - and I've picked up my share - and you'll know that it's mostly a collection of banality surrounding a couple of great knee-slappers.)
But mostly I enjoyed how the humor taught me a little about each different school of philosophy discussed. I can't say I'm walking away an expert in any of them, but I'm certainly a little more enlightened now.
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LibraryThing member HarvReviewer
If you’ve never studied philosophy, you may have an image of its practitioners as pipe smoking men in tweed jackets with elbow patches. Or perhaps you picture a dotty professor wandering the campus muttering incoherently. Be prepared to shed those stereotypes after reading these two irreverent
Though Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein both majored in philosophy at Harvard their credentials to write Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar aren’t exclusively academic. Cathcart worked with Chicago street gangs amidst several stints in divinity school, while Klein wrote for standup comics and designed stunts for Candid Camera. But those diverse experiences gave them the ideal grounding to produce a breezy survey of the history of philosophy filtered through the prism of humor.
Cathcart and Klein’s thesis is that the “construction and payoff” of both jokes and philosophical concepts are “made out of the same stuff.” Philosophy and jokes “proceed from the same impulse,” they assert, “to confound our sense of the way things are, to flip our worlds upside down, and to ferret out hidden, often uncomfortable, truths about life. What the philosopher calls an insight, the gagster calls a zinger.”
In just shy of two hundred pages, they support that thesis with a grab bag of jokes, as they race along on a whirlwind tour of the world of philosophy, from metaphysics, to logic, to the philosophy of religion. No matter your sense of humor, it’s likely you’ll find stories and quips that will make you howl, chuckle, and occasionally groan, but all in the service of illuminating some often abstruse philosophical concept. Space permits me to cite only two brief examples: To illustrate the concept of divine law, they tell of Moses descending from Mt. Sinai, tablets in hand. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” he proclaims. “The good news is I got Him down to ten. The bad news is adultery is still in.” Or this one, to bring into focus the notion of existential anxiety: To the restaurant customer who asks the cook, “How do you prepare your chickens?” the cook replies, “Oh, nothing special, really. We just tell them they’re going to die.”
To help readers keep it all in context, there’s even a highly idiosyncratic chronology of “Great Moments in the History of Philosophy” that manages to mention Plato, Kierkegaard and the Marx Brothers in the same timeline and an only slightly more serious glossary for the compulsive sorts desiring extra credit.
Given the success of Plato it’s understandable that Cathcart and Klein would want to extend their franchise. Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington is a stinging attack on the almost infinite species of doublespeak that infect modern politics. The authors couldn’t be any more blunt when they observe that they’re “perplexed and intrigued by subtler stuff: words that have been cunningly fashioned to sound like they mean something --- something important and compelling --- but that on careful inspection can revealed to be bulls**t.”
And there’s no shortage of examples here of the worst offenses in the world of public discourse, summed up in the pithy observation that, “It is often said that all of life is high school --- over and over again. But we beg to differ, at least when it comes to political rhetoric, where a good part of life is grade school.” If you’ve been following the health care debate with any degree of attention you’ve heard a good number --- “contextomy” (taking your opponent’s words out of context), the slippery slope argument and weasel words, to cite but a few of the most egregious. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to keep Aristotle next to your TV remote when you settle in to watch the next political debate.
Even if you don't share their taste in humor it's fair to say that Cathcart and Klein have made a determined, if decidedly unconventional, attempt to liberate philosophy from the musty halls of academe. Perhaps that won’t inspire you to blow the dust off a volume of Kant or Nietzsche, but don’t be surprised if you’re tempted to ask yourself whether philosophy might just have some relevance for you after all.
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excursions into the philosopher’s realm.Though Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein both majored in philosophy at Harvard their credentials to write Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar aren’t exclusively academic. Cathcart worked with Chicago street gangs amidst several stints in divinity school, while Klein wrote for standup comics and designed stunts for Candid Camera. But those diverse experiences gave them the ideal grounding to produce a breezy survey of the history of philosophy filtered through the prism of humor.
Cathcart and Klein’s thesis is that the “construction and payoff” of both jokes and philosophical concepts are “made out of the same stuff.” Philosophy and jokes “proceed from the same impulse,” they assert, “to confound our sense of the way things are, to flip our worlds upside down, and to ferret out hidden, often uncomfortable, truths about life. What the philosopher calls an insight, the gagster calls a zinger.”
In just shy of two hundred pages, they support that thesis with a grab bag of jokes, as they race along on a whirlwind tour of the world of philosophy, from metaphysics, to logic, to the philosophy of religion. No matter your sense of humor, it’s likely you’ll find stories and quips that will make you howl, chuckle, and occasionally groan, but all in the service of illuminating some often abstruse philosophical concept. Space permits me to cite only two brief examples: To illustrate the concept of divine law, they tell of Moses descending from Mt. Sinai, tablets in hand. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” he proclaims. “The good news is I got Him down to ten. The bad news is adultery is still in.” Or this one, to bring into focus the notion of existential anxiety: To the restaurant customer who asks the cook, “How do you prepare your chickens?” the cook replies, “Oh, nothing special, really. We just tell them they’re going to die.”
To help readers keep it all in context, there’s even a highly idiosyncratic chronology of “Great Moments in the History of Philosophy” that manages to mention Plato, Kierkegaard and the Marx Brothers in the same timeline and an only slightly more serious glossary for the compulsive sorts desiring extra credit.
Given the success of Plato it’s understandable that Cathcart and Klein would want to extend their franchise. Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington is a stinging attack on the almost infinite species of doublespeak that infect modern politics. The authors couldn’t be any more blunt when they observe that they’re “perplexed and intrigued by subtler stuff: words that have been cunningly fashioned to sound like they mean something --- something important and compelling --- but that on careful inspection can revealed to be bulls**t.”
And there’s no shortage of examples here of the worst offenses in the world of public discourse, summed up in the pithy observation that, “It is often said that all of life is high school --- over and over again. But we beg to differ, at least when it comes to political rhetoric, where a good part of life is grade school.” If you’ve been following the health care debate with any degree of attention you’ve heard a good number --- “contextomy” (taking your opponent’s words out of context), the slippery slope argument and weasel words, to cite but a few of the most egregious. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to keep Aristotle next to your TV remote when you settle in to watch the next political debate.
Even if you don't share their taste in humor it's fair to say that Cathcart and Klein have made a determined, if decidedly unconventional, attempt to liberate philosophy from the musty halls of academe. Perhaps that won’t inspire you to blow the dust off a volume of Kant or Nietzsche, but don’t be surprised if you’re tempted to ask yourself whether philosophy might just have some relevance for you after all.
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LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
This book succeeds in making philosophy interesting. It takes the basic categories of philosophy—existence, knowledge, government, ethics, etc.—and illuminates them by telling jokes.
I bought this book as a light read during summer holidays and loved it. It made me laugh out loud, and added a
Buy it for the knowledge or the humour—you will not be disappointed.
I bought this book as a light read during summer holidays and loved it. It made me laugh out loud, and added a
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few jokes to my arsenal. It had an other interesting side-effect, though: its broad overview of philosophy helped to clarify the major schools of thought in my mind. The glossary contributed significantly to this. It was written in such a witty manner that it compels you to read it. (I can't ever remember reading a glossary before!)Buy it for the knowledge or the humour—you will not be disappointed.
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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
An original approach to a traditional topic, this clever little book explores complicated philosophical concepts through jokes. It is structured by topic rather than by chronology which makes it easy to pick out the various disciplines of philosophy. Detractors would no doubt point out that this
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book is very superficial and in no way explores any of the concepts in any kind of depth and that the jokes most often distract from (some of them are really very funny) rather than enforce the notions being explained, but as an introduction, it is a delicious place to start. Personally, it has given me the interest to pursue some of these ideas more fully. Show Less
LibraryThing member ericknudson
Funny and illustrative of fields of philosophy. Many of the jokes are old, but are used appropriately to illustrate the "basic" ideas/concepts of branches of philosophy.
LibraryThing member stefano
Delightful collection of really funny jokes explained against the background of important philosophical concepts. The philosophical explanations are an excellent example of expository writing, it is amazing how much serious philosophical ground the authors manage to cover while keeping an extremely
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light touch. The jokes, almost as amazingly, were for the most part novel to me. Most of them are really, really smart. Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnB
This book doesn't deliver on its subtitle: "Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes". Sure, there are jokes, but they don't contribute much to developing a deeper understanding of philosophy. A light read that will make you chuckle, but you won't learn much.
LibraryThing member guitarbeast
Excellent book. Great introduction to Philosophy and very entertaining. I could hardly put it down and it kept me laughing all the way.
LibraryThing member nbmars
The philosophy in this book is only superficial, and seems mostly to be an excuse for a large collection of jokes, but I'm not complaining. I listened to it on cd, and must have appeared crazy to others as I often laughed out loud alone in the car. Even the jokes you already know are enhanced by
(JAF)
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the use of them to illustrate philosophical principles. I wouldn't say this is great literature, but it sure is fun.(JAF)
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Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Humor — 2008)