Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes
by Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein
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Book Summary Information
Author: Daniel Klein, Thomas CathcartEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-24
ISBN: 0143113879
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes
Book Review: Light-hearted learning
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the funniest and yet most philosophical books I have ever read! If you've ever gotten tired with people treating the big ideas of life as "serious business", or you want a quick way to pick up some philosophical notions without wading through some dry texts, look no further than this book. The premise might seem silly -- and it's the kind of book that's meant to be read with an intact funny bone -- but it works surprisingly well. Who'd ever think that essentialism could be summed up in this shake-your-head-and-laugh-it riddle:
"Why is an elephant big, gray and wrinkled?
Because if he was small, round and white, he'd be an asprin."
Or relativity of time could be presented in this:
"A snail was held up and robbed by two turtles. When the police asked him to describe what happened, he said, "I don't know, it happened so fast."
One minor hitch: this is book needs to be read in small doses, partly because the jokes may prove fatally funny and you may start laughing too much to keep going, but mostly because there are so many different lines of thought presented in between two covers. Also some of the jokes are...rather adult in nature but still funny (hey, even Christian philosopher C. S. Lewis, in his "Four Loves" admitted that sexual love has an inherently funny side to it).
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Summary of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes
This New York Times bestseller is the hilarious philosophy course everyone wishes they'd had in schoolOutrageously funny, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . . has been a breakout bestseller ever since authors-and born vaudevillians-Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein did their schtick on NPR's Weekend Edition. Lively, original, and powerfully informative, Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar . . . is a not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical thinkers and traditions, from Existentialism (What do Hegel and Bette Midler have in common?) to Logic (Sherlock Holmes never deduced anything). Philosophy 101 for those who like to take the heavy stuff lightly, this is a joy to read-and finally, it all makes sense!
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