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

Thomas Cathcart , Daniel Klein

Edition	Hardcover
List Price	$18.95
	$11.37 (Save 40%)

Published by	Abrams Image
Release date	2007-05-01
ISBN	081091493X
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours

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.

Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )

A course in philosophy via jokes

Two Harvard philosophy majors have written a funny, satirical look at their chosen vocation. They discuss Western philosophy including logic, existentialism, ethics, and language. Philosophy can sometimes be a deep, dreary subject (especially when discussing Sartre or Nietzsche) but this book makes it fun.

Unfocused

In this small book, Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein purport to teach "philosophy through jokes," but the effort falls flat. Though the authors seem to believe in their own premise, the jokes only rarely have more than the most tenuous connection to the philosophical principle at hand, and as such are not very effective illustrations.

The book's length also works against it: the authors have crammed a lot into the 200 undersized pages, but this means each idea gets only minimal space. Hence, the descriptions try to put everything into as few words as possible, resulting in a lot of text that is, if not confusing, at least not very inviting for a philosophical amateur. Someone who has taken one or two philosophy courses may have better luck following the explanations, but at that point, the reader may already know more than the book has to teach. All of this makes the intended audience somewhat unclear.

The most helpful thing here might be the glossary, which takes all of the major concepts in the book and distills each one down to one or two clear, concise sentences--but these five pages alone are hardly worth the purchase price. "Plato" has a smattering of decent gags (the timeline of philosophical history, also in the back, might be the funniest thing in the book), but on the whole it tries to do too much and ends up not doing anything very well.

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Is there anyone else I can talk to?

Plato & a Platypus is a funfilled look at philosophy. The authors review major ideas and reinforce the discussion with a series of topical jokes. A theological discussion with God ends with, "Is there anyone else I can talk to about this?"

This won't get you through Philosophy 101, but the jokes will be a hit with the professor.

A Great Book

This book is incredible! First of all, the jokes are simply amazing. I've never read a book of jokes with more memorable winners that get funnier each time you tell them. (Of course, some of the jokes are not politically correct, so you can't tell them in California, where I live.) Second, the rest of the text is funny and light, too, with hilarious cartoons and witty dialogue. Third, the philosophy is actually right on the money. If you read and think about the discussion in this book, you will definitely be doing philosophy. It is rather lighter than some other books (e.g., Paulos' "I think, therefore I laugh"), but it quickly and genuinely gets to the major issues in each of the great areas of philosophy it handles, including logic, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, social philosophy, and philosophy of language. Finally, it's a hard-bound book of excellent craftsmanship selling at a crazy low price.
I have taught introductory philosophy courses to high school seniors, college students, and adults. I have used a number of different books, including "Sophie's World" and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," as well as more traditional textbooks like Schick and Vaughn's "Doing Philosophy." Those books all have their strengths. But I think that this book would lead to more and better discussion (with less pedantry). And it would be a lot more fun, if you can catch your breath after laughing so hard.
(I'm sorry my review is not funny. But I swear the book is.)

For stand-up phlosopers

In the Mel Brooks movie "History of the world, part One" There is a scene where all of the stand-up phlosophers are commanded to appear at Caesar's Palace. And yes, the screen shows the sign in Las Vegas. One of the philosophers comments that "When you die at the palace, you really die." This follows a conversation among the philosophers where it is said that "Oh, yeah, Socrates, he was the greatest!" This is the book that these guys needed. I gave it as a present to my son, Who teaches phlosophy at a midwestern university.