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Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes

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By: Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
(126 customer reviews)
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EDITORIAL REVIEW

Here’s a lively, hilarious, 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!

“I laughed, I learned, I loved it!” Roy Blount Jr.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Publisher: Abrams Image
Pub. Date: 1st May 2007
Catalog: Book
Media: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Number Of Pages: 208

ABOUT THIS BOOK

USER REVIEWS

A Very Funny Book
~ Written on Dec 3, 2008. 4 out of 4 users found this review helpful.

This is a very funny book. Cathcart and Klein manage to teach a little philosophy along with the humor. They seem to understand their subject and they make it fun for the reader.

I enjoyed this book even more than their other, similar, book:

Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington

I enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it to others.

wonderful gift book
~ Written on Nov 16, 2008. 3 out of 3 users found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful book to enjoy and to give as a gift. It includes insights, wisdom, and great jokes!

Horrible both philosophically and comedically
~ Written on Nov 9, 2008. 2 out of 4 users found this review helpful.

I'm a Ph.D. student in philosophy and I bought this to see whether any of it was worth using in an Intro to Philosophy course. None of it is worth using for that purpose. It does every topic an injustice: usually false or misleading; at best superficial. Nor is it funny; although I agree with Wittgenstein that good, serious philosophy could be written consisting entirely of jokes.

James Grindeland
Department of Philosophy
University of Georgia

Understanding the jokes
~ Written on Nov 4, 2008. 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.

Our book club selection (9 people) for Oct. The members that were educated in these fields reveled on this book. Most of us weren't of that mindset, we did enjoy and shared our favorite or most meaningful joke. Those that understood high stars, others low marks so 3 stars and enjoy.

Philosphy can be hilarious
~ Written on Oct 16, 2008. 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.

This is a very funny book with laugh out loud jokes that illustrate all the schools of philosophy, including meta-phlosophy: philosophy about philosophy, which, despite its name, does not invole drugs. You will learns something about these different branches that most of us would avoid like cow liver. You may even be inspired to take a class or read a more serious work. Me, I am going to read one of their other book.

John, author of reading Thomas Merton

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